Twist of Fate
by redheadclover
Summary: Emma was only a hacker to pay off the medical bills that were against her, but when Hank Pym hires her, Emma's world is turn upside down with superheros and supervillans and she becomes the target of a bigger game at stake. Can she trust herself and her hacking skills that will be placed to the test? Scott X OC
1. Chapter 1

"I told you the last time you came in for a check-up, no sign of progress on the hearing," I sighed, looking down at my hands there as I was sitting on the exam table and felt the strong sense of defeat there within my chest. The shale smell of the doctor's office, the hint of soap there lingering on the Doctor's hands as he placed his tools back on the table and he rubbed his eyes with his stubby fingers behind his glasses. I hated this, knowing that there would be no progress on my end. I wanted progress, I needed progress. This was not how it was supposed to be, though I was okay with what I had in the end.

It was still not enough.

"I'm sorry, Emma. There's nothing else I can do for you."

It rang in the room like a bell that was too dull for someone to listen. Another great aspect of my life.

* * *

I'll get it out in the open real quick. I have no hearing in my right ear.

It was a pure accident when I was little, but I have my father to blame for that. He was the real reason why I lost it, but trust me, I'm not bitter. It happened when I was about two years old, it was another night for him to drink and then get wind that my mother was going to leave him. He got mad, his temper was never really great from what I remember. That would tick him off to grab me and kidnap me in hopes that my mother wouldn't leave him. But the problem was that he was drunk, real drunk, and driving with me in the car in the constant busy streets San Franciso. All I knew, according to me mother, was that it was late in the night, he was going too fast, and he slammed into a trolly, in turn, made us flying against one of the buildings there closely,

We were both lucky to be alive.

I lost my hearing then, and my father was no longer in the picture. My mother got the divorce she wanted and he was gone, nowhere to be found or heard of again. At first, I was said, too young t understand that he was not there, but as I got older, I knew why. I didn't love, as tough as it sounded and as it was to swallow, I never loved him as much. It made me doubt that he loved me too, loved me enough to not get em killed from another alcoholic adventure of his. The rest of my childhood consisted of doctor visits, surgeries in hopes to get my hearing back, plenty of hearing aids to go through, learning sign language, and just trying to be as normal as humanly possible.

But my new definition of normal was learning gymnastics when I was young in order to do something outside of school and to get my hands dirty, getting my hands on a laptop and learning the ins and out of technology. It was when I was 12 years old when I found out the one true thing that I was really good at, that really made more sense in my life more than anything else.

Hacking.

It was a simple thing that I learned in school, sitting next to another schoolmate who was hacking to change his grade in the school system. Since I couldn't hear what he was saying, all thanks to the hearing loss, I only watched out of the corner of my eye. He made it seem so complicated and so scary as if he was going to be caught at any moment, but to me, it was fascinating. seeing him move in and out of the system and his fingers move over the keys. Nothing else was really catching my attention like how he was hacking to move his grades up. Although I had to wonder why he would need to do something like that when he was smart enough to get onto the school system undetected, I learned from watching him and I wanted to try it myself. Not that I needed to change my own grades, I was just more interested in the thrill and thought of hacking.

The older I was getting, the better I was getting with my hacking. My mother had no idea I was doing something like this when I would come home from school. I kept my grades up to have her worry, I still went to gymnastics five times a week and was pretty good at it. With just my mother and I, we were each other's universe and nothing more or less. My mother had to work countless hours and hours at her job as a nurse, overnights, and over time.

But she tried her best to raise me, taking the two of us out on dates every Sunday night and many nights of the both of us reading together whens he wasn't working. I could tell how tired my mother was getting throughout the years, and when I was old enough I could get a job to help my mother with the mortgage and get our feet planted on the ground. I told her it was doing administration work at an IT store, but I was really working for money under the table as one of their lead analysts to stop hackings that would happen on their system.

They didn't tell my mother a single thing, as long as I did their bidding and not said a word.

I went off to school and got my bachelors and masters in computer science and computer engineering, going off to the East Coast and leaving my mother behind, much to her dismay. I kept in touch with her, though my own need for hacking was growing more and more of an addiction than anything. I would work odd jobs here and there, and since the pay was good enough under the table for me to help computer for professors or hack through with computer companies, I wasn't going to complain about it or leave a rare large trial behind me for someone to see and come after me with. I knew that it was bad what I was doing, it was against the law and not even close to being good. But then again, I knew also that I had to do what I had to do in order to survive in the world. I was poor, going to too many medical bills on my count all from my hearing aid and hospital visits. I needed to pay them off somehow, for the sake of my mother and her worried heart and for me to just live on to the ripe old age of fifty if I had the chance.

* * *

"How'd it go?" I dropped the bag from my strap down onto the ground as I closed the door behind me. The dim lights of the room were giving off the hinted glow of the constant workings of the other hackers that were there within the basement. There were at least 5 more hackers there, typing away at their laptops that were set up around the room and with her headphones on. After another rousing day at the Doctor's office, I had to go back and help the others that were currently trying to hack into another major technology company. They've been trying for the past few days and yet they haven't even tapped into the main system yet, so that's when they called me in. They were desperate.

"Don't ask," I grumbled to one of the hackers that I was friends with, Gibbs. He snorted, seeing the agitation on my face as I walked past him and ruffled my own hair with my bitten down fingernails.

"That bad?" He asked, making me look over at him and watch him up and down with my eyes. He was a smaller built than me, a lip ring there evident and a small scruff there on his cheeks. He was weighing another graphic shirt with his baggy jeans and his black-rimmed glasses there to hide some of his eyes from me to see.

"Doctors don't know shit," Another hacker said from her spot at her laptop, her headphones around her neck as she craned her neck over to see me there, "They told me I had cancer, I'm as healthy as a horse, idiots."

"Any who, ready to play?" Gibbs asked me as he was trying to steer that awkward conversation back over to where I was. I had to smile or how he was sounding, having me then nod in agreement as I walked over to one of the spare laptops that they had out. Gibbs chuckled as he walked me over to his spare laptop, a standard durable one that was used to hacking and getting more data than the regular ones would have from day to day. As soon as I sat down at the table, he tapped a few buttons to have me see the symbol and sigma of what company we were hacking into. My eyes go wide and I looked at him in shock from what I was seeing.

"You can't be serious," I said to him in a low tone, Gibbs looking at me in confusion.

"What?" he asked, not getting the gentle hint of what this was.

"You want to break into this company? You know not one single human was able to do this," I reminded him with a low tone, "This is suicidal. it's not like the other jobs I've been able to cut into."

"Think of this as you graduation, getting up to the big dogs and showing them how ti's done," he said it so nonchalantly like it was another hacking job that was worth that struggle. But this, this was a big deal, too big for someone like me to at least try to tap into. I knew I was good, but I also knew that I wasn't stupid enough o think that I could get through this whole thing in one piece. Gibbs had faith in me, more faith than he should as I bit my lower lip and looked back at the sigma again.

Stark Industries.

* * *

 **1 hour later**

"Shit…shit shit shit," I moved away from the table now with my hands out in front of me like I touched poison for the first time. The others were right bind me, watching me the whole time and seeing what I was doing and they too were shocked, looking at the screen with wide eyes and with astonishment there written all over their faces. I was beyond shocked, scared out of my life, and I thought this was some kind of trick, that I really didn't do it.

But I did.

"You really hacked into the mainframe," Gibbs said in a breath of air now next to me, just as shocked as I was as I shook my head.

"It wasn't supposed to be possible,…" I trailed off.

"This is legit! We're in Stark Industries!" another one said in a joyous tone, the others were laughing and chuckling too like this was some kind of victory that we would have for another hacking job. But I still thought this was too much and not even close to being right. if it was anything else, I would be fine with it, but Stark Industries? What were they thinking of letting em do this?

"We need to erase this," I said out of the blue, all of them going quietly from hat I said to them and they were looking at me in shock now, not in the best way but in confusion and in a negative way really.

"What are you talking about? We can see whatever we want from here," Gibbs explained to me in a light tone, still not getting what I was telling him.

"This is Star Industries…you know who runs this?" I asked him in a hiss, seeing him watch em carefully now as it was overflowing his head and then sinking in under his skin.

"Tony Stark…." He added, having em raise an eyebrow at him.

"In lamest terms…Iron Man of the Avengers." I said to him in a hiss, the others were now looking at me with grave looks on their faces and almost like he floor dropped out from underneath them. I looked back at the laptop again, instantly closing the laptop before anything else could happen or anything else could pop up.

"Destroy the laptop," I said to them all now, rushing over to my bag again and throwing it over my shoulder, "Wipe every piece of equipment that's here in the basement and relocate, don't come back here for another month or so,"

"Why?" one of them asked, having it sound like they very much new at this game and now knowing the real consequences that this was going to bring on all of us. I knew about that, coming too close several times with the law and almost getting arrested myself because of it.

"Because if you don't leave this basement within the next five minutes, you'll going to be arrested."

* * *

"Good luck," Gibbs said to me under his breath while we were bee-lining out of the basement and into the alleyway that we were walking down. I threw my hoodie on over my head and tried not to show my face. My own heartbeat was racing more and more now since it was getting to be more of a reality that I could be arrested within seconds now, someone could be watching me and waiting for the next big moment. I was looking everywhere with my eyes, my hands tightly on my laptop in my backpack and my feet were moving faster and faster now

I turned the corner, going down to the main street and seeing the others coming to and fro in the area as if nothing else was going on and nothing was tainted. They didn't now who I was, and it was fine by me, I was trying to blend in and not be seen to lightly by the civilians there. I just need dot make it to my apartment and not make any other decisions from there on out.

The hearing aid was buzzing from the sounds around me, the small hit of rain that was falling, the boots stomping on the concrete ground of the sidewalk, it was still the same sound I was used to for years and years, and yet it felt like every sound I was hearing was heightening because of my fear of being caught. it was scaring me, all of the it was. What I just did was insane, beyond insane, and it made me think that I was just own my death sentence with a pen and with my fingers on the board.

I was just about to turn onto the street when I had the itching feeling that I was just caught, having me freeze and feel a hand on my back. I whirled around, seeing a man in front of me dressed in black up and down and have a haunting look on his face, but he looked too pale for my liking and it scared me.

"My boss would like to talk to you." He said in a thick accent, almost Russian from what it sounded like. Within a second, I thought it was someone from Stark Industries, already finding out about me and waiting to send me to the police, if not worse. I felt like I was about to head into my death sentence there if I went with him, and His grip on me was a bit too tight for me liking. I had to think fast, real fast now since He might be knocking me out sometimes too.

So I punched him, hard in the throat.

He released me, doubling over as I started to run, double time now as I was thinking that he would be right behind me. I could hear him say something in Russian now, maybe a curse word or two as I was boiling more and more down the road, passing the people there and not trying to run into them. I was more concerned about whoever was coming after me and trying to kill me. What was I thinking? I was an idiot, a big one for doing something like that and thinking that I would get away with me, let alone succeeding in it.

I turned another corner, hearing tires squealing behind me on the road and it made me wonder that they were following me. I ran faster, looking back for one second and seeing some kind of run own van coming up after me, going a bit faster than the other cars. it made me instantly look forward again, seeing my apartment at the corner of the street, third floor. I had to find a way to get there without showing them how to get there. It was tricky, but it was another thing that I picked up in the past, to get in and out of my apartment without the landlord seeing me and getting his nose into my business. Thank God for gymnastics.

I had a sharp right, reaching up for the low fire escape ladder that was within jumping reach from me in the alleyway to the right. I jumped, grabbing the bar with both hands and pulling myself up within seconds int my arms to the first ladder. I looked back at the street, seeing no sign of the van or that it followed me, and I grinned, climbing a bit faster now and up to my window there against the few escape, seeing it already cracked up slightly from where I left it when I left this morning for the Doctor's appointment. Once I reached the window, I sighed in relief, thinking that the worst would be over now as I opened the window completely and crawled through.

With my back to the room and my face to the window, I thought I was in the clear.

"You know for a hacker, I thought you would have a better sense of security for you place."

I froze, not moving from my spot there and thinking that it was another person from Stark that was there to get me. But the voice sounded more humorous, warm and down to earth, not sinister like someone from a big company would. I looked t the reflection in the mirror of the window, seeing a person there in the middle of my room and looking at me with a tilt of his head and a small smile on his lips. I could see he was wearing some kind of uniform there, Maroon and chrome almost with a helmet that was covering most of his head, except for his face. I finally turned around, facing the person who was in my apartment.

"Are you with Stark Industries?" I asked him almost tentatively, still clutching my backpack there that was on my shoulder and thinking that he was. He looked right at me, a small glimpse there on his lips like he was observing me with his now eyes. Maybe he was, and I saw the lightness there in his eyes and how dark his hair was in the lightness that was coming into my apartment. Even with him breaking into my own home, I couldn't help but think that he was handsome, with the scruff there on his own face, he seemed kind. But it was not what I wanted to know from him.

"What are you going to do if I say…yes?" He asked me almost tentatively now, having me shift a bit there in the room now as I felt my fingers twitching against my side.

"How did you get into my house?" I asked him, looking up and down at the uniform he was wearing,a small eyebrow raised on him then as I pointed to his uniform, "Did you use that?" He looked down at his own uniform, shrugging his shoulders when I heard another voice from the other side of the room where the hallway was.

"Scott, quit trying to scare her, please." An older man walked into the room now, walking a bit slower than what I thought. But his look was determined, white hair medium length but looked like it suited him as he was wearing white almost clear-rimmed glasses and a business suit. He was using a cane in one hand and he stood next to the younger man, apparently his name was Scott. In my head, it suited him as the man spoke up once more.

"I am going to assume why you're wondering why we're in your apartment." He said to me, having me nod slowly at him and shift away from him slightly. He saw me do this, holding up both of his hands at me now to show that he wasn't going to try anything on me,

"You're not in trouble or anything," He explained calmly, "At east, not yet. Not unless you want to talk to me."

"I don't know you, sir. And the fact that you broke into my apartment I don't think is helping you case in convincing me to talk to you," I admitted to him calmly, my fingers were still twitching next to me against my leg there as he nodded in agreement.

"You have a point there," he said in agreement, shifting with his cane still in his hand, "I'm Hank Pym."

My heart stopped then, knowing that name from the past things on the news and all hat went on with his old company, which happened to be another company that I tried to hack into in the past.

"You're Emma Grains, and I'm here to hire you."


	2. Chapter 2

The car was far too nice for my liking, having me shove my hands into my lap and looking around for a bit as they were driving down the street now. I felt like I had to go with him since I felt like I didn't want to stay at my apartment for any minute longer in case Stark Industries was going to choose to come over and kill me. I wondered if they were going to find out about me, it was still killing me. But then again, being in this strangers car and going to his home to talk about a new job that he wanted to give me. I knew who he was, his name was all over the news in the past few years and how there was some kind of power struggle with the person who used to take over his company. Apparently he went crazy and he went too far, at least that's what the news said about it.

The man's name was Cross.

The car turn down another road that was leading us to the nicer side of San Francisco, of course, farther away from my own apartment that was near the shady part of the town. I would barely venture out there, with the larger homes and the nicer greeneries. The bigger homes and the taller trees were making me feel so small as we were still driving along and I shifting a bit in my seat, clutching my backpack there against my chest. Maybe this was not the best idea, maybe I was going to another death trap and I had to be the gullible one to think that they wouldn't kill me. I thought I myself was smarter than this, I really did.

Scott was apparently sitting next to me, saying nothing and giving me a little bit of space there in the car. I was too freaked out about the whole thing that was going on in my life for the past hour or so. It was still an uncomfortable silence there, but I was seeing him out of the corner of my eye and how casually he was sitting at his side of the car. He was even leaning back at bit and keeping his eyes straight ahead now, still in his uniform tapping his hand there on the armrest between us. He was another person I was still trying to read with my own thoughts and instincts, and yet there as still some kind of warmth about him, almost a calming effect that I was seeing on his face, like this was another day for him: recruiting young adults who are breaking the law to work for his older employer.

"You probably have more questions," Hank said from the front seat as he was driving us over to his house. It made me look at him as he was watching me through the rear view mirror. His eyes already looked cool and calm, but it was then again something that I thought he was going to pull on me. I felt the need to place my hand there on the handle in case that I would have to roll out of the car and run for my own safety.

"I have at least 5 of them in my head, to be honest," I admitted to him, seeing him smirk at me through the mirror and I hated to admit that to him.

"Well, let's start with the obvious question that I would think you would have: Why are you in my car driving to my house?" He said, his soothing tone in the car then as I was still trying to breathe in and out through my nose then as I slowly nodded my head.

"I think that's the obvious one," I said back to him in hesitance.

"Hank, I think it's really sad to say that she's not a huge fan of this whole thing, so we can really tone down the awkward factor here, " Scott said to Hank now as I was about to say something else to Hank. I looked over at him, seeing him give me a nervous look now as I was not gripping the door handle a bit tighter now and Scott was now eyeing where my hand was. I wanted to move it away, to not make it look obvious, but he caught me in that trap already.

"Yep, she's a bit petrified right now, Hank," Scott said to Hank as I was about to open the door to the car and roll out of there and get out do dodge, maybe knowing that I was going to break an arm or a leg now as Hank said something else there that made me stop my own self-injury.

"Emma, We've been keeping an eye on you for the past few months," I froze, looking right at him and seeing how serious he was looking at me and saying very still. I kept my hand there on the door handle and I waited to see if he was going to say anything else that would make me either run out or stay, "You're one of the tougher hackers to follow these days, but I do know of you work, none the less. You're rather good, too good to be doing underground hacking."

"Which is why I'm being kidnapped by two grown men…." I trailed off, sounding a bit uneasy about it and wondering why these two men were up to, especially the older one.

"I'm not kidnapping you, I'm wanting to hire you," Hank reminded me calmly with a small smile on his lips and a raspiness in his voice. I gave him a confusing look now, shrugging my shoulders then.

"I'm in need of someone who's had a great background in technology, mainly getting into a system that won't be identified," Hank went on with his explanation, "Not to mention the fact that you did break into the Stark Industries mainframe under an hour."

"And is that….good?" I asked him, almost sheepishly now as if it was a dumb question now and an awkward topic for us to talk about in the car.

"It's real good," Hank answered me now as we were now pulling into the driveway of what looked to be his house. A Victorian home that looked both intriguing and ancient at the same time with the sun peeking out from the rainclouds that were no longer looking rather terrible and vain. It was a gorgeous house, and to think that someone like Hank Pam lives in there and calls this place home was enough to have me surprised. He parked the car and the three of us got out, slamming my own door closed now as I looked at the house up and down now. Sure they would have shown the house in the papers and on the news after what happened to Cross, but it was another thing to see it in real life.

"Let's go inside and talk some more about what I have to offer you," Hank persuaded me in his kind tone, looking at me from his side of the car now as I looked at the house over to him now. Scott was walking away from the both of us now, heading over to the house without looking back at me once, and it almost left a pit down in my stomach. Did I make some kind of the wrong move with him now? Did I piss him off in some way?

"Don't worry about him. Scott goes to the beat of his own drum," Hank explained to him as I looked back at him and threw my backpack back over my shoulders once more and then walked over to get over to the house with Hank now. I really didn't have anything to hold me back or to make me run to the hills. It felt as though I would have to trust this person, someone whom I saw on the news and now who wants to hire me, in order to stay alive. Was it going to be worth it?

I was about to find out.

* * *

"I want to hire you to help with my own system," I was frozen there, sitting at his table now as he poured me a cup of coffee and a small bowl of sugar was there in the middle for the both of us to use together. I was still seeing the inside of his house that and so much history and memories that I could see on the walls and perched on the tables there all over the place. In the small dining room that we were in, the nice dining room table and the pictures there not he walls were giving me a bit more of a glimpse there in the life of Hank.

"You system?" I asked him, making sure it was correct.

"Pym technology. Yes," He replied, folding his hands in front of me now as I looked down at the cup of coffee there in front of me and I replayed that simple request in my head.

"Why would you want to hire me?" I asked him now, thinking that I had to ask him that now since it never occurred to me before. But it was really haunting me now, that I was in this person's room and he was now asking me to work for his company. From all the stories that I read on the internet and what I heard on the news, his company was a bit on the verge of a technology breakthrough compared to others. It was real high technology that they had, even having me look at it with wide eyes like a kid in the candy store. But now it was going to be real, me working for him and calling him my boss.

"I like how you hack," He said simply, which I never thought I would hear in my life.

"Should I thank you then?" I asked him back, a smirk was there on his face.

"I need the mind of a hacker to make my own computer system un-hackable to anyone," He explained as I shifted a bit in my own chair again and he went on with his explanation, "I'm bit afraid that some of the things that I'm working on, new projects and serums that I'm developing, they are going to get into the wrong hands with those on the internet with a few clicks of a keyboards. Anyone can get anything these days. Since you're a top hacker and you can get into Stark Industries, which from what I heard was supposed to be impossible to break into, I think I can use someone like you on my team,"

"I honestly did that job on a whim."

"Let me guess, you do your hacking on a whim?" He asked me with a raise of his eyebrow now as I felt like he was going to talk about something else about my own life, something that I really didn't want to bring up. It made me look at him more with hesitance and with a careful gaze there since I had no clue what he did know about me.

"You don't know about my life," I said to him in a low tone, not wanting to sound hostile, but still wanting to sound grounded in where I was and not wanting to sound like I was wavering. He stayed silent for a moment or two now, having me wonder what he was thinking about in that moment.

"I know you're hacking to pay off more than what you can bargain for in one life," He explained, having em feel my own heart stop within a second or two now as he admitted that to me, almost like he was a cop in an interrogation room and he finally let out all that I was trying to work for and get away from me like a clean slate. How did he know? What did he know about my own life that I was trying to keep under wraps?

I heard footsteps coming into the room now, having me slightly look over to see Scott coming in and he was wearing civilian clothes. He sported jeans and sneakers, a t-shirt and over shirt and his hands were shoved in his pockets as he was watching the conversation in the corner of the room. I looked back in front of me, placing my fingers there on top of the table there and I felt them tapping against the wood of the table, over and over, like a rhythm that was not wavering or not losing its course.

"Medical bills," I stated simply, not sharing anyone else in the room say a word or two about it as I took in a shaky breath from just saying it and exposing it for the two men to hear about, and I just barely met him, "I need to pay them off in order to make my mother's life less stressful." Hank watched me carefully, and the way that I said it was like there was a dull knife digging into my side and bring out an old wound that I thought I did mend in the past.

"Different jobs in the past don't pay as well as hacking: but it's still not making a dent," I explained some more without wavering my tone a little bit.

"How much of a dent are you in, if you don't mind me asking?" Hank asked me, kindly of course, but still it left a bitter taste in my mouth as I stayed quiet and looked down at my tapping fingers there. I could see Scott, out of the corner of my eye again. it would be far too bitter for me to even think about, so this was not going to happen.

"I can pay you a good amount to work for me, Emma. Be one of my main computer anaylsits and help me prevent any hackings that could happen," I looked back at him now, thinking that I was hearing something wrong and my hearing implant was not working at all. He wanted to hire me, really hire me on as one of his employees. I never had a solid job, sold enough to bring me in a paycheck that could really help me, so it was a brand new thing for me, "People need seconds chances in this world, a time to get their feet on the ground and have a second shot at life. Maybe this is your shot for a second chance at a better life."

It all sounded too good to me, almost like a dream coming true now as I was drinking it all in and thinking of what to do. For the past few years, I had to learn how to do this whole thing of life on my own, having to be independent even in times that were not letting me be independent and happy. It was hard, almost exhausting, and over time I would get a hacking job done and completed, it still didn't feel like I had enough to get through and the medical bills were still too piled up for me to get my head out of the water. This could be my one and only chance for me to finally be free from the money I owe, and yet it didn't feel right.

Doing something like this, committing an act that I knew deep down from the moment I started doing the dirty deed so any years ago. It was a guilt eating away at me, almost like a bitter ache that would be coming over me like a wave from the ocean, making it impossible sometimes for me to wake up. For me to go on with something like this would seem like I was doing the wrong thing, instead of finding a job and not committing a crime at all. My mother would want that for me, I knew she would, and since she still had no clue what I was doing on the side, this would be the icing on the cake for the lie I was living.

"Can I think about it?"

* * *

"I think it's a good idea that you're not jumping onto it just yet," I looked over at Scott as he was walking me out the house over to the front yard, having me look over at him now as the sunset rays were coming over the hill on the both of us, the cooler winds were coming in and I was wrapping myself up a bit more in my jacket now as I eyed him.

"You think?" I asked him, a genuine question more than sarcasm. He nodded, folding his arms in front of him as his moved his shoulders in agreements now with me.

"Hank's good about giving someone space, especially for a job like this," He reassured me, "He gave me some space when he offered me my job with him."

"Should I ask what job that is?" I questioned him, back, seeing a small smile on his face as he paused. That felt a bit out of place when I said it, thinking that I just met the guy very briefly. He then held out his hand to me, as if we were meeting each other officially for the first time. He showed kindness in his smile and in how relaxed he was standing there next to me as I shook his hand in my own now, feeling the gentleness there within his grasp.

"I'm Scott Lang," He introduced himself, I grinned at him too now as I released my hold of his hand and smiled kindly back at him.

"Emma Graines."

* * *

I walked down the hallway with Scott right behind me, since he convinced me to let him drive me back to my apartment and make sure I got there okay. For some reason, he knew how it felt it walk back to your house and think that someone was going to be there waiting for you, all from your job and its description on life. It made me wonder then what kind of job he did or used to do since he has yet to tell me what it was and if it was dangerous.

I froze in my spot, eyeing my part of the hallway now as Scott was standing right behind me seeing what I was seeing too. Something was wrong, ver wrong as I stood there in the middle of the hallway now, looking about thirty feet down to the left now. There was scattered wood on the floor, door debris.

"What the hell?" I said under my breath now as I looked at a destroyed door that used to be mine, and it was scaring me now more than ever. For a brief second, even after I met Hank and Scott and went over to hank's home, I thought I was safe and in the clear.

Apparently not.

I started to run over to my apartment, or whatever was left of it now as Scott was right on my heels.

"Emma, wait a second, Emma!" he said to me now as I saw the opening into my apartment, which looked like a grande opened it all the way through and the inside of my apartment already looked tampered with all over now. He stopped with me as we entered my old, torn up apartment, things were shredded and thrown around into bits and pieces. My sofa was ripped into with what seemed to look like a knife, my table and chairs in the kitchen all the way over, papers were seen thrown all over, along with broken glass and some of my gadgets that I used to tamper with and what I bought when I had the money. My bookshelf was beaten down, books were flown all over the place, some of the things on my walls like paintings and pictures were thrown to the floor.

Someone was trying to find me.

"They took everything," I said aloud, mostly to myself but Scott was hearing it too as I jogged over to my bedroom and felt my heart dropping. They did take everything: my old laptop, some of my other trinkets and gadgets, my personal pictures and camera, my old phone that I was working on to improve on it, everything. The only thing that they didn't take from me was my own street bike, but it was parked away from my apartment since I mostly walked. It made me lean against the doorway now and rub my face in agitation and then hang my head there as I was watching my shoes there at my battered floor. I had to have known something like this was coming, that someone was going to be and at my hacking and they were going to retaliate with it now. This was not a safe place for me, but I had nowhere else to go. My mothers' place was out of the question: If they can do what they did here, who knows what they are going to do to my mother's place if they find out I'm with her. I was not going to let my mother get hurt, let alone killed, because of me. No, I had to think. It made me lift my head up now and look behind me at Scott, who was standing in the middle of my battered and destroyed living room.

"Where am I going to go?" I asked between the both of us now, running my fingers through my hair as I was trying to think of a real safe place for me to lay low. Scott was still looking around my place, then looking back at me now like he struck gold with some kind of idea.

"I know a place."


	3. Chapter 3

I could hear Scott and Hank talking to each other in the other room as I sat there in the living room, my backpack was once again against my side there on the couch and I had my hands folded in my lap. Of course, Scott would bring me back to the house and ask Hank to think of a place for me to stay in. I really didn't have any other place to stay in myself, I couldn't afford to stay in another place at the moment and it would have been far too risky for me to move into another place. I drove my bike back over to his place with the only thing I had left to my name: my laptop inside my backpack. Everything felt rushed, almost like someone was fast forwarding through the next several hours. Stark Industries could still be looking for me since they already went through my old place and destroyed literally everything to my name, except my backpack that I kept with me, thank goodness. I had to start from scratch all over again, and I wondered how that was going to play out.

"Yo Scott! Where you at, man? And who's sick bike is out front?" I heard another voice from someone who came in from the front door, at least two other pairs of feet with the first one that spoke and I perked up a bit, thinking of who it would be since it sounded unfamiliar. Three young men came walking into the room, apparently looking for Scott now, but then they saw me sitting there in the living room on the couch, once again looking right out of place. They all looked around my age, a bit rough around the edges, but none the less interesting to look at. One was Hispanic with a small grin on his face which was wiped off when he saw me, another was African American with a beanie on his head and his hands shoved in his pockets with another shocked look on his own face, and the last young man giving me bug eyes, wide and scared at the same time. I saw him too, thinking back to some hours beforehand in the rain out on the sidewalk and it made me freeze.

It was the same guy, the one who I thought was going to kidnap me.

"Oh dang," The first one said, looking over to the big-eyed one who was staring me down like he was staring down a barrel of a gun, "Is this the chick that clocked you in the throat?"

"As I recall," The young man with a thick Russian accent said to the first one now, having me gulp now since I felt more foolish about it than anything as Scott walked into the room with Hank right behind him. They looked at the three young men and I saw Hank roll his eyes, Scott grinning from ear to ear as he walked over to the three men that were still in shock from seeing me there in the living room, it was almost as if they haven't seen a girl there before in the house.

"I see you've met my associates," Scott said to me, Hank almost snorting under his breath from what Scott said.

"Is that what you're calling them these days?" Hank asked him under his breath to Scott as the first man grinned more like a Chester cat than anything as Scott walked over to me a bit, almost like he was acting like a buffer with me against the three of them.

"Guys, this is Emma," he said to the three of them, the Russian man nodded his head now as I noticed the small amount of a bruise there on his neck, the one that I gave him hours before. It made me feel even worse.

"I think Kurt here already met this fly girl before," The second man said in almost a smirk now as Scott looked from the men over to me now, his eyes going wide as it was clicking in his head as he pointed to the bruise on Kurt's neck.

"You were the one who gave him that?" He asked me, almost a bit shocked now since it was apparently a new discovery for him, "I thought he just slapped you."

"That's what he told us," The first one said to Scott before he nodded his head over to Kurt, "This one was trying to play it down low that it was a simple slap. But clearly the lady here knows how to punch,"

"Thanks for the play by play, Luis," Kurt mumbled to him as he rubbed his bruise there on his neck and seeing me again, his look seeming to be a bit softer than before.

"Sorry about that, I thought you were someone who wanted to kill me," I admitted to him now as I found my voice in the whole situation, the others looking over at Scott and showing grins now from the whole situation there that was unfolding in front of them.

"He did give off that vibe, didn't he?" The second one asked me, winking in return now as Scott finally cutting in with the conversation as I felt a shift of uncomfortableness there.

"Hank asked Kurt to to bring you in to talk to him," Scott explained to me, "He's not with Stark Industries."

"What about Stark?" Luis asked Scott now, almost then looking at me now since apparently they weren't in the loop, which was going to make it even more awkward. I looked over at Hank and Scott, thinking of what to say in that situation and Hank finally spoke up to break the silence.

"We can have that conversation later, but Emma here is going to be one of my new employees. I would advise you three to behave yourselves around her," Hank said to the three them, making me shift there on the couch a bit and wish we could talk about anything else.

"So you hack?" The second one asked me now with curiosity.

"Ain't it clear, Dave? She's one of those low-key geniuses!" Luis said in excitement and with his grin almost radiating in the room and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm not that great at it," I tried to reason with him. I was still getting the hang of this whole situation that as unfolding in front of us.

"That's what I heard through my friend," Luis said to me in almost an amusing kind of manner now as I looked at him like a deer in the headlights, the others were acting nonchalant about it like it was another day within the life of Luis. It wasn't something I expected from theses guys, making me think that there was more to this kind of life than I expected.

* * *

"You can stay in here," I peered into the guest room that was back at Hank's house, not wishing to go inside just yet now as the room was set out in front of me. The bed was a full with dark blue covers and a mixture of light blue and light yellow pillows on the top, making it look more appealing to me since I haven't had a proper bed in a long time. The bed frame was a wooden frame, sled bed style, a matching dresser against one of the walls near the door that would lead to a smaller bathroom that was meant for one. It was nicely decorated with the dark blue walls and the wooden trinkets and pieces around the room, a lot more things were in this room compared to my old apartment in general.

"It's not a whole lot to work with," Hank said to me as I slowly moved my way into the room a bit now, clutching the only piece of property I had left in my possession. My laptop was feeling heavier there in my backpack, making me stay still there in the room and drink it all in now. Since Scott brought me back to Hank's home and explained to Hank what happened, Hank was willingly going to let me live there, and I was still shocked that this was all happening to me. All because I thought I was doing something that was mediocre and simple. It was still a stage of detail for me to get through and to live with. But now, I lost one home and was getting another.

"I can't do this to you, sir," I said to him, looking back at him in the doorway now as I was thinking of the reality more than the dream. it still seemed too much that I was working for him, and yet now he was wanting me to live with him, and I just met the guy.

"It's the least I can do for you," He tried to reason with me, and I felt like I would have to talk to him more and try to convince him that this was still not a good idea for me to go through. But I could tell from the look on his face and how he was staying still on the fact that I was here, there was no real need for me to argue with it. But now it was a sense of trying to explain this to my mother, then again to the others that I was friends with. it was going to be complicated.

"I can stay here until I find a place to live on my own," I reasoned, seeing him nod in an agreement after a moment or two before he nodded in agreement.

"No need to rush, you can take your time with it, I have plenty of room here so you can make yourself at home," He explained, making me so quiet again and drink it all in that I was starting from scratch. I knew my own back account was not going to be tampered with, but other than that, I had nothing really concrete to my name and it was going to keep me up at night for noon, at least for the next few days now. It was scaring me, starting all over again and having to trust my gut now more than ever. I've had to since I moved out on my own, dealing with the medical bills because of my hearing impairment and feeling already out of place in the world. This was the icing on the cake.

I had to start at square one all over again.

* * *

I couldn't sleep that night, in that new bed that I was staying in and my mind was reeling over and over again. It was in the wee hours of the morning, the quietness of the night was creeping through the old house and having me think and hear how the house would breathe in and out with the wind that was coming through the bay. I left the small amount of the window open so I could hear the small distance of the breeze and the trees humming with the wind. Nothing as going to help me sleep, and I had to walk around or do something that would calm me down and make me think clearly again.

Without making a sound, I moved out of the bed and threw on a sweatshirt over my pajamas that consisted of boxers and a t-shirt, ruffling my hair a bit with my fingers and throwing my hearing aid in before I moved over to the door, opening it and peering out into the hallway now. It was one again quiet there, the darkness of the night there and giving some of the shadows into the hallway and down the stairs.

I walked down to the kitchen, feeling more parched than anything and needing some kind of drink. The kitchen was deserted and nice and calm, the shuffling of my feet and the small humming of my breathing was the only thing that was heard as I found my way over to the pantry that was tucked against the wall. Noticing that that door was already opening, I peered inside to see what was there to drink, noticing a water bottle out there. I grabbed the bottle, closing the door and then suddenly hearing something shift over near the table. It made me whirl around, seeing someone shoot up from the table and gasp out in shock and fear.

"Jesus!" It was Scott, who moved away from the table over to the wall to turn on the light. I grasp my sweatshirt and chest in shock there since I didn't see or hear him at all since I got into the kitchen. He was wearing his now pajamas pants and an old college t-shirt, having me see some skin and try not to look there as he looked at me with wide eyes.

"You scared me, I didn't hear you coming down here," He admitted to me in a gasp of air as I got my own breathing under control.

"I could say the same for you, but you're a natural at sneaking in places," I said back to him, not thinking of what I was saying and how it was sounding off my lips. That sounded snarky, and I wasn't snarky to begin with, but Scott smiled softly as he nodded at me.

"I'll give you that one," He agreed, moving back to the kitchen table and I noticed that were was another water bottle there on the table where he was sitting, half of the water was gone and the cap was next to the bottle itself.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked me as I took the cap off my own bottle and drank a little bit. I could think of this as more than a reality than anything else that ever happened to me. This was still sinking ing, and yet from just looking and talking to Scott and just being around him, it felt calm and collected. Throughout the whole day, Scott was the one who found a new place for me to live. I was still in shock as to why he would do that, and I wanted to know why he would do that for me. There wasn't anything really special about me, at least not in my mind. So I just replied with the one thing on my mind:

"I had a long day,"


	4. Chapter 4

"So," Scott said to me, starting up a conversation with me as we were sitting there in the wee hours of the morning, "You're a hacker…and is that a primary use of your time to get money?" For some reason, I had to smile at the sheer fact that he was trying to start up a conversation with me like we were just regular people meeting at a coffee shop or somewhere else, other than that reality that was over the both of us. I shifted in the chair a bit now, thinking of what I was going to tell him. As soon as he saw me do this, I could tell he felt bad for saying it in such a way, a bit of a flustered face was what he was showing me as he raised both of his hands up in defense.

"That was a seriously bad attempt at small talk," he tried to reason with me, but I shook my head.

"I'm more flattered, given the circumstance and all," I added, watching him pause and eye me as he placed his hands back down in his lap as I went on, "I am, primarily. Since I was young. I had to make money fast."

"I tried it once, not a real fan," He voiced to me, making more small talk about it than anything as I tilted my head at him.

"No?" I asked him, seeing his smile was still there, it felt like we were having a casual conversation, not like we were talking about breaking the law or anything like that, "But then you're a…thief?"

"I wouldn't use the term, 'Thief' " he tried to persuade me, leaning back in his chair and placing one arm on the table in between us, "I prefer more of a Robin Hood kind of title."

"But you do steal?" I asked him, pressing in a bit to see what he really did as a job, he thought about it for a moment or two, having me wonder iff I did step out of line.

"Define 'stealing'." He said in almost a joking tone, having me pause there for a moment before I chuckled and then nodded in agreement. We both came from a certain past that would be pretty tainted and pretty awkward for the other to understand, I could tell how he was trying not to make himself the interesting part of this talk, and I wanted to do the same too.

"You do anything else, other than hacking?" He asked, almost sounding a bit awkward about it now as I leaned a bit onto the table with my arms there and I used my hair away with my hair. Just the way he was asking me, it was really like he was fishing for something to say in order to keep the conversation going between the both of us now/

"I feel like I should watch what I say in order to say the right thing," I voiced to him in almost a confession, seeing him now cock his head at me in intrigue.

"What makes you say that?" He asked me now, almost like I was trying to catch him in the trap that he might be setting up, or maybe even catching him off guard.

"I feel like we're on a first date the way we're talking like this," I admitted to him, seeing him almost looked floored from how I blurted it out like it was really a freight train and it collided. It made me feel embarrassed there at the table. Of course, I would act like an ass now in front of him, just getting to know him and trying not to look flustered in front of him merely because he was handsome, and I got those butterflies in my stomach from just his smile. Goddamnit.

"I'm sorry," I started, but he shook his head before I could even say anything else.

"You're right, that's not a real way to have a conversation with someone, is it?" He asked me, sounding more casual about it than anything. I thought about it too, seeing how Scott was someone whom I shouldn't be afraid to talk to, or see as some kind of threat. He was more collected than that, I could tell and how he was willing to want to get to know me, really know me. At least that's what I thought about in my mind: since in the past no one would really want to get to know the deaf girl who was trying to find a place in the world. This was truly a first for me, someone who was just as handsome as Scott was willing to ask me about my life.

"I've been doing gymnastics since I was 6," I said to him, almost like a statement than anything now as our conversation was snapping back into reality than the awkward silence from the limbo. I could see the warmth back on his face, the normalcy was back there again now as I felt like we were back on track again with our conversation.

"Gymnastics?" He asked me, with a bit of intrigue there, like he was really into what I told him. Again, it was a first for me, to talk to someone about my life that did not consist of hacking.

"Yeah, the doctors figured it would be a great way for me to do better physical therapy since I was still trying to get my old life back," I explained to him, "Af†er I did it for a week or so, I loved it and stuck with it ever since. I almost made it through the trials for the Olympics once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. back when I was about 20 years old. They didn't think it was a good idea because of…of me being deaf," It felt hard to say it like that, and I knew they weren't really going to let that be the real man deal. But then again, I knew then that it was the reason why I wasn't chosen to go. I wanted myself to be more than a deaf girl who was real good at computers, but according to the rest of the world, and according to my old coaches, it was enough for me not to go.

"I bet you they don't know what they are missing," Scott said to me, almost in a way that was supposed to be flattering to me and trying to make me feel special about it. It was almost like he was trying to flirt with me, which felt nice again within my own mind.

"Eh, I think they do. Sometimes I would have two felt feet," I admitted to him with a chuckle.

"You're talking to the two left feet king over here," He countered back with me as he pointed to his own two feet there under the table, "I was so clumsy as a kid, so you're practically walking on water compared to me."

"Well then, what about you? What do you like to do?" I asked him, since clearly the whole time we were talking about myself and my life, and it was feeling a bit too much for me at the moment.

"I'm more a running kind of guy," He said in almost a casual manner, too casual really since he was making it sound like it was nothing.

"Running, like what older people do in order to stay healthy and active?" I asked him, almost like a joke and he chuckled a bit then from what I told him. Another round of joking and almost flirting, at least I hope I wasn't flirting, was coming to the both of us.

"Running, as in, trying to make a quick getaway," He answered back smoothly.

"So being a thief did make you fast?" I questioned.

"Sure, and just trying not to get myself one black eye."

* * *

"So, this is it: Pym Technology," I stood in between Scott and Hank as we were in the lobby of PYM technology. Apparently Hank decided to run it again, mostly his daughter was going to run it and Hank was going to be in the background when it came to the company. Hope was mostly going to run a lot of it within Hank being in the spotlight, and now I was there, working for the both of them.

Holy Crap.

There were glass windows and door everywhere, not to mention a larger lobby with of course and a reception desk there with the icon against it, the modern look and somehow there was a retro look to it as well. it felt like Hank was both trying to stay within the modern look, and yet was still holding onto the looks from the past. But to me, it looked pretty legit and very large and intimidating.

"Try not to drink it all in, trust me," Scott whispered under his breath to me now as I looked up and down at the whole area there and a small smile was on my lips than from how he was making it sounded almost like a joke to him now, making that he went through the same thing when Hank first hired him to work for him.

"It's not as fancy as you think it is," Hank tried to reassure me as we walked in now and I mostly followed him now since I felt like I was going to be a lost puppy. People were walking left and right, both in business suits and some in medical labs coats and scientist attire. I felt very out of place there, wearing my hoodie and my fitted jeans along with my boots that were almost clashing against the nice heels and shoes I was hearing and seeing there on the other people in the room. Scott looked like it was wearing comfortable attire too, so I was glad I wasn't the only one.

"Since the growing need of security online is getting more intense, I figured I would need someone to help develop the kind of security we need online, since anyone can hack into anything these days," Hanks explained to me as I followed him more to go to one of the elevators that on the other side of the lobby, having me chuckle then from how he worded it.

"Sounds like a jab at me," I said to him in a jokingly manner now as I was stolen awe of all of the looks of Pym Technologies around me and thinking that I was far too small and too insignificant to be in a space like this.

"Not really," Hank said back in reply to me, "But I need to keep up with the times. We could be getting enemies both in literal flesh and in technology, and the last thing that I need is an attack on the company. Pam Technologies has been through enough since Darren," I saw how quiet he got after he mentioned Darren Cross and I didn't want to pry that even more. It wouldn't be right on my part, and since I was still getting to know beth Hank and Scott, it wouldn't be my place.

"I figured it would be a hacker here on the team to develop the kind of technology and system we need to be protected," Hank explained to the both of us as we saw the doors opening and we walked into the elevator and the doors closed. The doors were glass and we were seeing ourselves going up to the second floor, then the third as the lobby was staying there on the ground level.

"What makes you think that?" I asked him in curiosity.

"Well, you know how to get through systems, you know they look and how they work. So, you can create something like that," Hank explained as we stopped at the third level and the three of us walked out into what looked liked to be the technology floor of the whole building. There was a long hallway with two rooms on another side that had floor to ceiling window for me to look into. There were so many computers, plenty for me to lose count and the tables that were littered with tablets and iPads for the taking. For anyone else, this would be such a heavenly place of nerds. But it was for me: this was heaven for me to play in.

"This is amazing," I said in a gasp now as Hank shoved his hands in his pockets and walked forward a bit, though I was frozen there in my spot and trying to drink it all in. I've never seen this much technology in one room, and it was scaring that this was real, that someone like Hank Pam would have this much there within his fingertips. He made it seem like it was another day at his work, but this was about to be my own kind of work now.

"You're gonna work in here, anywhere you want here on this floor," Hank explained as we entered the room on the right-hand side, having me hear the humming of the computers already on overdrive and the clicking of the keyboards from the other workers that were there, "I'll give you clearance to be here at any time with your access card and your identification."

"That's already a bit too much for you to give to hack on her first day," I said to him, thinking that he was rightfully out of his mind to through me into the lion's den already within one day of me working there.

"Well, I would think that you would get started as soon as you can," He said to me, know catching my attention and thinking that he was having something else going up his sleeve when it came to this. I knew what it meant to be cautious, that something else was at stack here and he needed me. For some reason, I could feel it, that this was not just another kind of day for him to hire someone like me. He was needing someone like me to work for him, quickly. But at this point, I had to trust that what he had for me was going to be okay, that I wasn't going to be finding myself way too in over my head.

"Let's get you started."


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you think?" Hank asked me as I was facing one of his major monitors and looking at his security system there on the screen. It's been a good few days since I started working for Pym, and after the plenty of hours working on the computers and getting used to the security system there that they had to offer. It was almost like a headache for me, thinking of now being official and now in the real work force.

"It's a good amount of security, sir," I said to him as I typed in a bit more codes to scan through the system there in front of me and my eyes were constantly scanning the screen for any pockets that I knew would bad on his end, and good for the hacker end, "There are some pockets that need to be taken care of."

"Pockets?" He asked, clearly not getting what I meant by it. I pointed with my finger there onto the screen, my other hand touching my implant there in my ear as a habit since I was thinking far too hard and I needed to grasp something to have some kind of control over a situation.

"Look here, you see there's a gap in the formula and the code?" I asked him as I watched him next to me lean forward and rearrange his own glasses there on his nose, "Typically, security systems mostly overlook this pockets because they would seem meaningless, but to hackers, they are perfect places to add in codes that could be seen as harmless, but they're gateways to either a virus or a complete hacking." He watched the screen now as I tapped in a few keys on the keyboard and he saw the new code placed there to look like the others.

"How can you tell it's a bad code?" He asked me since he was not seeing the one flaw about it.

"It's not matching the others, a slight difference that only a trained hacker can see. Most Black Hats—" I passed and looked at Hank who was giving me a confused look, "Hackers that are doing it illegally, make their own code and give it some kind of slight different in appearance so that they can find it later on."

"Interesting," He said under his breath now as I went on with another rant.

"Another way they hackers can get into this system is the security protocol within here," I went on with the explanation, "The more security you have in your system, the harder it is for a hacker to get through. It needs to be a tough system, very heavy duty on data and almost an inscription."

"Can you do something like that?" He asked me, almost like he was not convinced about it. I nodded at him, looked back at the screen.

"Give me about five minutes, and I can make sure you don't get touched by even the heaviest hackers for the next 8 to 10 months," I reassured him, now watching him give me a surprised look as if it was shocking news for him to hear. If I was going to work for him, I was going to need to prove myself more than anything to make sure I was going to do this right.

"You can do it that fast?" He asked me, having me now raise an eyebrow to him.

"Trust me. You'll be more secured on the internet than the next leading technology based company. you'll be putting them to shame."

* * *

"Heya Mom," I said and signed to my mother on Skype. I was talking to get, finally, after not being able to communicate with her since my apartment was blown to bits. I had to do some damage control now, making sure I was doing the eggshells that were on the floor and not be in the blind limelight when it came to working for Hank Pym. Since I started working for him, I was getting countless hours of looking at programs and systems there. It was almost too much at one point, maybe since I wasn't going to do this illegally, so it seemed much tougher than before. I knew that mainly because some of the people there that I was working with was not seeing me as a new member, but as an ex-criminal who was now trying to wipe her slate again once again. it might have been comical in their eyes, but I felt a bit better than going underground and talking to plenty of other hackers that were still either in college or either in their mother's basements.

"How are you?" She asked me as she signed to me as well. I missed my mother, and I haven't told her a single thing about what happened to me since I practically didn't tell her anything about my life since I moved out of her house. Sure, it was sad, and not the best thing for a daughter to do with her mother, but then again I was trying to avoid breaking her heart from what I would have to tell her about what I would do behind her back. She was too kind for me to tell her something like that. I wondered when she would catch on to what my real life was, what I really did after the sun went down or when eyes were looking the other way. So far, I was in the clear.

"I'm good," I replied back with the sign as I was sitting in my room back at Hank's home. My mother and I would still sign and speak to once another, even when I was younger and I learned how to talk. I felt like it was more of a small connection and memory between my mother and me, something almost sacred that would warm me up even on the coldest night. I loved signing with my mother, and she was one of the only ones that I would still sign too, no one else.

"So, you texted me about a new job?" She asked and signed to me, having em grin at her now as I nodded my head.

"I'm working for a big company with their computers. Apparently they think I'm really good at what I do," I explained to her, seeing her grin from ear to ear now from what I told her. This was one of the main things that I wanted to strive in life: making my mother happy with me. She was my advocate in times that were tough, and she was nothing but a good source of light and great at making me feel loved and accepted.

"I'm proud of you, and I thought all of that time with you on the computer would do you some good," she said to me in a joking manner now as I giggled and leaned back a bit in my chair, "I hope the money is real good for you then, not that I would think of that being the main reason for it,"

"I'm sure, mom," I joked back at her, "But I like it. Maybe you've heard of the company: Pym Technologies."

"Oh, I have! I remember reading about them on the news," She explained to me as I shifted a bit now, thinking that she's heard something negative about Pym. I wouldn't blame her, since they were all over the news about Darren Cross and who was in charge and who wasn't. It might have made her confused as to why I would be working for that kind of campy, but then again it might have been a good thing for her to think about for me to be there. Who knew, she always had some kind of optimism in me that I would never understand as to why she did. But she was a literal angel compared to me.

"They're a good company to work for," I tried to reassure her, since I could tell on her face and in how she talked to me about it that she was on the fence about it, "Hank Pym's a great boss, mom. Trust me, you don't have to worry about it."

"I never have to worry too much about you, even when you were a teenager you knew how to take care of yourself," She tried to reason with me with her kindness in her voice, "I'm still worried about Pym, after all that did happen on the news, and that man named Cross who apparently went crazy…"

"I know," I said to her simply, not wanting to dive into it some more with her because it was not my own place to tell her what happened and what didn't happen. I wasn't there with that man when that happened, nor did I want to know what really happened with Cross, Hank and Scott were involved and it was not right to talk about either one of them.

"Hey!" I whirled behind me and I saw Scott there at the door, looking in by my door at what I was doing. Within a second, I hit the mute button there on the laptop and looked back at him with wide eyes, thinking that I should turn off the laptop and not have Scott see my mother. Why would I think that? This was merely Scott, of all people that I would feel threatened about him seeing me Skype with my mother? It was still feeling like he caught me out of place, not in my own element of being in control. It was a new and scary feeling as Scott pointed to the laptop.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" He asked me as if it wasn't obvious clue with my mother still on Skype there. I felt like I was caught like a deer in the headlights now.

"Kind of," I said to him, seeing him then look a bit taken aback at how I said it like I was stuttering and being a bit more nervous than usual, "I was….talking to my mom."

"Oh, really?" He asked, now seeming more sheepish than anything since I caught him off guard. He then pointed behind him now, "I can leave you alone for a bit—"

"No, no, it's okay, I'm almost done talking to her anyways," I promised, watching him search my eyes as I felt up a finger at him, "Give me one second."

"Sure," he replied, having me give him a small smile before I turned around and faced my mother again. I felt like at this point I was going to be signing with her instead of turning the mute off. It would be awkward for me to have Scott listen in on the conversation, and since he didn't know how to Sign, it was the perfect opportunity.

 _ **Sorry, mom.** Bad connection._ I signed with her, seeing her nod at me. I didn't hear Scott move in the room, out of focus from the laptop and out of sight from my mother.

 ** _It's fine, are you talking to a friend?_** She signed to me, having me bit my lip and think about what I should sign to her. Would it be fair for me to tell her about Scott, and Hank, along with the rest of the situation I was in? It was always going to be an issue for me to be in when it came to my mother, and I didn't know whether or not it was going to spill over one day, and I would be afraid of that moment when it would overflow.

I had to play it real safe.

 ** _He's my new friend. His name is Scott._** I signed to him calmly, watching her nod at me and I decided to leave it there and not bring it up anymore. But then after I signed that, I could see something was off on his face like she was thinking about something and she was trying real hard not to tell me something that was harboring her.

 ** _What's wrong?_ ** I asked her, having a sinking feeling that maybe it was something going on at her work at the hospital, I wondered if she was getting overworked again, and I was about to ask her that when she finally signed at me.

 ** _I worry about you sometimes, Emma._** She signed to me with worry in her eyes, and I wondered why she would think such a thing about me, I know life can be pretty hard, and that you don't like to sit still. But from what happened with Pym…and that man going insane…

 ** _Mom, stop_!** I stopped her from going on and having my feel more guilty than anything. She was trying to look out for me, I knew she was and she always was going to, but this was one of those times where I knew I had tons step in and let her know that she was going to have to let me do this on my own.

 _ **Mom, I can handle myself here.** It's not going to affect me, what happened to that man. This is a good company, You don't need to worry about me, I promise you._ I signed to her, hoping that it would be enough for her to know that I was able to take care of myself and nothing was really going to get in my way. Leave it to my mother to be a worry wart about me, and leave it to me to try and calm it all down. Finally, even after a moment or two, she nodded and I grinned at her now, finally feeling at ease about this conversation.

 _ **I'll let you go. I'll talk to you soon, stay safe for me, please.**_ She signed to me, having me nod at her and signed I love you. She signed it back to me, having me see her give me a smile again as she waved goodbye to me and clicked off the Skype account, having me see the laptop go black now and I sighed. it was another Skype session that was all done and over with now, and even know that I was so used to those sessions, it would still be something that would leave me feeling a bit sore there within my heart.

I finally looked over at Scott now, who was still standing out of the way and not making any noise, but watching me the whole time that I was signing to my mother. Something about the way he was looking at me, his head tilted slightly to the side and the look of fascination and intrigue was there all over his face for me to see. It almost scared me how he was looking at me, and yet I eyed him up and down to see what he was going to say to me then.

"What?" I asked him, wondering what was going on in his head then. He slowly shook his head but his eyes never left me.

"I've never seen sign langue before," He said to me wholeheartedly, and it made me feel a bit smug that I was his first taste to Sign Language. He really likes it, and he was really accepting of it, which never really happened to me in my life and my friends that I made in the past.

"It's part of my life really," I explained, "It was my mostly my first language since the….since the accident." I had to pause when I brought up the accident since it was hardly ever brought up in my life or to the people I would talk to. Then again, I was still getting to know Scott and trying to figure him out, and yet I was telling him this. Maybe it was because I was comfortable with him, or that we both were in a unique place in our lives, but it was a new thing for me to feel.

"Don't worry, knowing how smart you and how fast you catch on, I think you can keep up." I joked with him, watching him smirk at me now from my own smart mouth that I used on him. Before I could even say anything else, someone blinked on my laptop, having the both of us look now and I could see something now there on my screen, the news channel.

"What's this?" Scott asked me as I moved to face the computer again now, seeing a section on the news coming on from a live stream.

"I have a notification on my laptop, signaling me when the news is on and the headline is a technology company." I explained to him as I clicked new more buttons on my keyboard, "I programmed my laptop to do it automatically and inform me of anything on the news,"

"What did you major in?" Scott asked me in a higher tone, having me eye him.

"Bachelors Computer Science, minor in Gymnastics, and Major in Technology. Why?"

"Just….wondering," Scott said under his breath now as we both looked at the screen again, seeing it was on FOX news.

"In other news with Stark Industries, there was an apparent security break in the only system and security in Stark Industries. It has gone, on record, being the first breach that the company has ever had since it's expansion after Tony Stark came back to America from his league of absence. The hacking incident occurred four days ago in the evening, the source of the hacking is unknown. However, Tony Stark himself as testified to dealing with the matter, and the source of the hacking, in a serious fashion."

"Oh shit," I said under my breath now as the news feed then went to Tony Stark talking at what looked like a press conference there at his base in New York. It made me freeze there, seeing him there in the flesh and was talking to the people, all about me.

"Stark Industries had always been ahead of its time, and though we like to say we are indestructible to any kind of attacker, it looks like we are wrong on that note. We are looking into this investigation 150%, leaving no rock unturned. We take our security very seriously, and other this specific person is from another company, or just some young kid thinking that they were beyond lucky, we will find the person responsible for this crime, make no mistake. Stark Industries will not have this be overlooked." Tony Stark said from his spot on the podium, having me feel it all the way down to the bottom of my feet now. I didn't think it was going to be this intense and this real, that he was going to see this so seriously. Then again, I had to have known something like this was going to happen, and when all I thought was that it was s simple prank.

The screen went black and I sat there, shock in unbelief that I just witness something like that, it and I moved my hand over my face now and almost shake in fear and anxiety. This as almost feeling too much now as I was hearing Scott move over to stand next to me, almost like he was afraid of breaking from hearing the news of the manhunt that was on for me.

"Emma," He said softly, "They won't find you with us."

"You sounds so sure, Scott."

"I mean it," He reassured me, "Hank won't let Stark get to you since he's not a big fan of Stark in the first place,"

"He wants to find me, Scott. Knowing Tony Stark, he won't stop until he knows where I am." I informed him since I knew him as someone who was power hungry for his company and he was always going to remain on top, no matter what it costs. For the very first time in a long time since I started Hacking, I was afraid for my life.

Tony Stark was after me.


	6. Chapter 6

My phone went off near sunset when I was working on my laptop for new upgrades to give to Pam Technologies. It's been a solid week since I found out about the so-called bounty on my head from Tony Stark, in which I tried not to use my own caption on any kind of mainframe that would get me exposed. I thought do someone trying to find me though my own laptop since it was my laptop that hacked into his system, so now I had to be more careful about what I did, at least until I knew the witch hunt was going to be over. But since then, my workload at Pam was keeping me distracted, not to mention Hank paying me more than I thought anyone would or have in the past.

"Hello?" I asked, putting it on speaker.

"Hello, old friend," I grinned, hearing the voice of my old friend Gibbs there on the other end of the phone, "Haven't heard from you for weeks now."

"I've been busy, Gibbs," I responded, sharing him snort on the other end.

"Busy. Is that what they're calling it these days when you fall off the map? You have a new nickname amongst the other hackers here in the district," Gibbs explained to me now as I raised an eyebrow to the sudden new of my popularity amongst the others in our community. Hackers knew each other in each district of an area, at least most of them knew each other really since they would either help each other or try to beat the other. I was never a person who wanted to start trouble with others, I kept to myself. But it was still surprising to hear that others were talking about me since I left.

"Should I be concerned?" I asked him now over the phone with a small hint of concern there.

"The Ghost," I passed there, my fingers leaving the keyboard in front of me and I had that term, that new name given to me, sunk all the way in. It sounded more obscure for me to say it on my own lips, it was less of a nickname and more of some kind of threatening name. It didn't fit well to me, and yet it was already part of my reputation there. It made me feel like I was gone forever, away from my old life and old world.

"Sounds badass, doesn't it?" He asked me since I was too silent for far too long for him apparently. I had to tell him something at least.

"You make me sound like a superhero," I said back to him in a snort, hearing him chuckle once again on his line.

"Any who, the others in our District and the two others are meeting up tonight underneath O'Hares, midnight," I knew what was going to come about now since he was talking about. He's done this before, plenty of times now since I came into the town and got into the hacker community: There was a competition tonight.

"The money's good, real good," Gibbs kept going, having me groan into the phone.

"I'm not interested," I countered back.

"Oh come on, you know you wanna come back and keep your crown as one of the top hackers we have," Gibbs tried to persuade me, but I shook my head even though he was not there to witness me doing that gesture.

"Gibbs, I'm not doing that anymore," I tried again to get him off my back once again.

"Since when did you lose your edge?" he asked me with a hint of annoyance.

"Since Tony Stark placed a bounty on my head excuse of a simple like prank that someone told me to do," I spat back at him, hearing him now sigh.

"Good grief, it was not completely my fault, and no one really thought he was going to be going all apeshit because someone was smarter than him and his super computer," Gibbs explained to me now with sarcasm there with his tone now, "This is different and you know that. It won't kill you to make an appearance so that no one thinks you're dead."

"People think I'm dead?"

"We'll…some of them do. Either that or they've been breathing in too much of the fumes again," Gibbs answered me with his usual light tone to me like it was just another conversation that we were having together. I thought about it, thinking it would be good for me to get out of the house and go back to my old life and back to what I knew best: hacking. It wasn't that I didn't like this new life that I had going for me with Hank and Scott. It was a nice life, a stable one that I was still getting used to. But then again, it almost felt like I was missing out not he fun things of my old lives.

"Fine, but don't ask me to come out again for one of theses joy parties. I'm only going just to shut you up."

* * *

It was like I was younger all over again.

It was held in what looked like to be an underground nightclub, right under another bar that was out on the street. Even with the nighttimes looming over the city, the place underground had club lights going on and too many people that were beyond capacity, making it hard for me to shove me through the crowd as they were shoulder to shoulder.

The music, being heavy dubstep and heavy rock that was losing the room, was almost making the walls shake now as I was seeing a couple of stations already set up with hackers already competing against each other, the tables wrapped in a circle and it was looking like King Arthur's round Table. It was almost hurting my hearing implant, making it feel out of place, having me rearrange the frequency of my implant if I didn't want a headache. Computers were surrounding the circle table and hackers were already at work. There was a person on the microphone near the DJ turntable at the head of the large room as I was walked down the steps from the balcony that was wrapped around the walls there and the large opening in the middle.

"I have word, that we have a reigning champion back here tonight!" The man with the microphone, the ring leader of the whole night as the others were talking and dancing together, but others were listening to him as the bass of the music was seeping under my skin and I felt someone shove my side there and I looked to see it was Gibbs now, his own hands in his pockets.

"Welcome back," He said to me over the music now.

"I have word that our reigning champ is looking to hold the crown as best hacker within this end of San Francisco. I do hope that the comparator is ready to go up against our one, and our only: Ghost!" The whole room cheered from hearing my new nickname being used, and it sounded like it was already up in the air and used for as long as I was off the grid. I looked in shocked, then Gibbs smiling at me now as I threw up my hoodies so that no one else there would recognize me.

"Bring out our competitor," The MC said now as someone was weaving their way into the front where he was. I could see them from my eyes now as it was some kind of scrawny little thing there, a cocky look on his face as some of the crowd cheered for him and he waved back like he was some kind of spectator and he was eating this whole thing up. I could tell: he was going to be easy for me to take down.

"We'll be having our competition between our newbie here and Ghost over at Round Table Number One," Everyone was swarming over there now as Gibbs and I were walking there too, side by side now as I was keeping my head down and my hands in my jacket pockets.

"He's a new hacker, cockier than anything and thinking he's a hot shot. He's already has been causing some problems with some of the others in our district when it comes to exposure and Black Hatting," Gibbs explained to me under his breath now as I could see the MC and the newbie talking to each other and the music masking what they were saying. They were on the other side of the swarm of people that were around the deserted roundtable, in which there were two seats that were facing each other on each end. There was a single white build of a light in the middle of the round table to illuminate the area as Gibbs and I stood at the edge, not showing ourselves just yet as the MC stood in the middle with the Newbie.

"Let's bring out our champion, Ghost!" The whole room shook in the cheering as I finally stepped into the small light there since everything there in the club was now black, the focus being there at that table as I felt already like I was back in the game again, not saying a word or so now as I stop there in the middle where the Newbie was eyeing me up and down, a scowled look on his face.

"You don't wanna show your face to me?" He asked me like he was offended that I wasn't going to take off my hoodie there in front of him and the rest of the people there who are going to watch the whole competition. It was then that was MC laughed, almost a chuckle now as he wrapped an arm around the newbie and pointed at with the microphone there in his hand,

"The Ghost likes to show the face behind the genius after annihilation." MC said to him now as the Newbie then looks as little intimidated from what the MC told him, then I heard the MC clear his throat and he then talked back to the crowd, "Let's get the battle started! Make your way to your seats!"

Newbie eyed me then, walking over to his seat that was on the other side of the round table dan then chuckling to himself, in which my blood was boiling for who cocky that he was and how cool he was at the same time. But I knew how to cut him off and to make him loose the cockiness, work him over at the hacking.

I sat down at the table there, someone who apparently worked there placed a laptop in front of me and it was ready to go and to work as both the Newbie and I sat there and waited for the MC to break out the rules for anyone and everyone to hear.

"Rules are simple here: the first one to place a virus in the other's laptop and crash it. The virus has to be a Grade 4 or higher, not small virus that can merely take out a program or two. Understand?" He asked the both of us. We nodded, then looking at each other as we placed both of our hands there on top of the table without moving or flinching for one second. We had to wait for him to say the word to start, and I was getting my own breathing out of control now as he then raised one finger in the air, the signal for us to be ready for him to say the word.

"Hack!"

It was all happening within seconds: our fingers flying and going over our keys like it was second nature to us, or maybe that this was part of our DNA. But this was going fast for me, the numbers were going in and out now as everyone around us was cheering and wondering who was going to be the first that was going to break the other. I didn't look up from the screen, but I could already tell hat I had this in the bag with the virus that I was injecting in his own computer. This was a cakewalk for me, finding the single on his computer and then launching in with the codes and the virus that was strong enough to take out the whole laptop altogether. We were going at it for about 20 seconds before I heard the horn off and I looked up. The Newbie's face went one as a sheet now as the MC pointed at me now with a huge grin on his face.

"Winner!"

The whole room was in an uproar now as I stood up from my spot at the chair and the Newbie was watching me with wide eyes in shock, that he was defeated within seconds and yet he thought he was going to get the apprehend. But I watched as the MC walked through the opening at the round table and over to my side, placing a hand on my shoulder now as I moved the hoodie from my eyes. He was floored, seeing a female there and the clear winner of the whole challenge.

I was looking around now at the sea of faces there, all of the people there that were watching me and thinking of me as some kind of hero in this situation. But in my head I was thinking the opposite: I knew what we were doing was illegal. I knew that this was frowned upon with the rest of the world. How could they see me as someone who was going something great?

Why was it eating away at me?

* * *

The house was dark when I got home, opening the front door with the spare key that Hank gave me since I was living there. I closed the door behind me and locked it, listening in for a moment or two to make sure that I was alone there and no one was awake. So far, so good. I walked down the hall to grab something to eat since I was beyond tired and hungry. My backpack was within my hand and near my leg now as I entered the kitchen and as soon as I touched the tiled floor, the lights went on. I instantly was blinded for about a few seconds, But as soon as I got my eyesight back in check, I saw two figures in front of me and I knew I was caught.

"Good evening Emma."

Hank and Scott were standing there, watching me with their arms crossed like they were my fathers and they were catching me out late. I looked at the both of them, back and forth now with my eyes as I then saw their looks on me were less threatening and more curious as to why I was there and up so late.

"I take it that your outing tonight was successful?" Scott asked me, his eyes were filled with a thought os curiosity and intrigue as Scott looked amused by what was about to happen to me like he was waiting for the punishment.

"You were waiting up for me?" I asked him in a lighter manner.

"Figured that something was off when I noticed that the bedroom window was cracked up just slightly when I came over to check up on you and let you know how good you've been doing at PYM," Hank explained to me now as he then motioned with his head over to the backpack that was in my hand, "Should I ask what's in the bag?"

I froze there, not thinking that it would be the best idea for me to do this in front of the both of them. But then again it would be sucky for me to start lying to them about what I did, it would be a bad place for me to start trying to build a relationship for the both of them. So I reluctantly, and with much hesitance there as I was doing this, I placed the backpack there on the table and unzipped the top. Within a few seconds, money was spilling out from the backpack and onto the tabletop and almost overflowing to the floor. It all happened so quickly, and as soon as the last dollar was on the table there, I waited for the both of them to say something, anything to ease the awkwardness.

Neither one of them said a word, thy just looked at the pile of money that was sitting there on the kitchen table. I didn't know how to word what I wanted to in front of them, to make myself look less of the villain and more of a normal person. It was a constant battle for me.

"The winner got $10,000." I explained first, sounding more hesitant than anything, "I've been doing these kinds of competitions for about 3 years, and I'm the best one in three districts," I took a moment to collect my own thoughts before I went on, since this was the first time I would talk about something like this and my past to anyone, ever.

"This is the main way I get my money, as bad as that sounds. There was no other way for me to get enough money to make some kind of dent in my medical bills," I said to them in a softer tone now, "But you feel like you're gonna lecture me, I can find somewhere to work and to live." I had to lay it on straight for the both of them since I didn't want to have another moment of people judging me on a bad choice of life that I already knew was not good enough to have me think of myself as a decent person. But now I was paying it out on the table for these two men to see and to take in.

"Well, we might as well place this in a bank account," I gave Hank a shocked look when he said this like it was an ordinary talk between the both of us, "No use of it laying around here."

"I think you just went off your rocker," Scott said under his breath to Hank, but Hank kept his eyes on me as he sighed and rubbed his eyes behind his lenses.

"You still have a shot here, Emma," He explained to me calmly, since it felt like Iw as about to jump off a cliff, "If you're willing to still work for me and stay here, I can help you get back on your feet." He was still seeing me as another person that was willing to have a second chance, to not go down the old path that I would usually go with. It made me feel so small and yet so cared for at the same time. I could start all over again, and not feel so weighted down or defeated. I looked at the money, seeing the whole amount there in front of me, and then I thought of another way to b happy in this world. I didn't want my shoulders to be weighed down by burden after burden.

I wanted to breathe.


	7. Chapter 7

"Yeah, I miss you too," I was walking out of my own door and down the hallway a bit when I heard the phone call conversation that was going on with Scott and whoever was on the other line. I paused before I was going to go over to the stairs and grab some breakfast.n It threw me for a loop for some odd reason, to hear him talking to someone else on the phone.

The longer I was there at Hank's house, the more comfortable I was getting with this new life. I would spend most of my time in the day at PYM. I also tried to keep busy, moving my own thoughts farther away from going into hacking that would get me money. That one night was the last night since I felt like seeing the looks on Hank and Scott's faces was enough for me to try and go something right, really right. Sure, Gibbs was mad at me when I told him I was cutting off my hacking competitive side cold turkey, but I reassured him that I wasn't going to go off the map just yet, not permanently at least. That convinced him enough, but it made me focus more on my work and getting my own life back together.

But then again, I was getting into this world more and more, the world of Hank and Scott. I met Hank's daughter, who was around Scott's age and who worked at PYM as well as a Hank. She was nice when Hank introduced her to me while I was hard working on a new program there at PYM, and even though she smiled at me and said it pleasant to meet me, I felt a small feeling of intimidation there as our eyes met. I felt like I was underneath her from just seeing her there in front of me, and yet she was so kind. It was another person that I would have to get used to being in my life since she was part of the PYM board.

Now I was having to deal with being around Scott, which was not supposed to be a bad thing at all since it was clearly a small fact that I was getting feelings for him. Not that, was something that I didn't see coming at all. it came out of the blue, after the plenty of talks that we would have together about what we did in the past, what we liked to do. It was odd that this was happening to me, that I was getting flutters in my stomach from how he would talk to me, or when I would look at him a little while longer while he was looking at something on a spreadsheet or talking to one of his buddies. It was a slow burn, nothing that was creeping up far too fast in my taste, and this was not supposed to be a problem.

Nope, not a problem.

But thy was it? I'm not so sure really. But I was trying so hard to get my own life together that this was some kind of problem that I could not afford to have, since my plates of responsibilities were about to spin out of control, and the biggest plate was Tony Stark.

So I wondered why this was bothering me, hearing him talk on the phone to someone else whom I never met and say that he missed them, whoever it was. I shouldn't be thinking about this, I should be doing other things, more important things. Pinning after someone who was sure as hell out of my league when it came to where he was in life, at least that's what I thought of in my head. It was wishful thinking and a big reality check.

And that phone conversation was the icing on the cake.

"No, no I promise. I'll come by and see you soon," I looked away from him now as he was talking in a hushed tone now at the other end of the hallway and I walked away from there, thinking that it would be awkward for me to hear anymore coming from him and the mystery girl on the other side of the phone. This was not supposed to be part of my new deacon about my life.

"Good morning," I looked up from my spot as I descended to the last step there on the stair and I saw Scott's three friends there, sitting in the kitchen and already having their breakfast there. All three of them were lounging about around the kitchen table and the counters like they lived there at the house itself, and it was almost kind of humorous.

"Nice to see you, gentlemen," I said to the three of them now as I walked into the kitchen and over to the pantry to grab my cereal, "Does Hank know you're here eating his food?"

"Aww come on now, we're practically family," Luis said in his light manner as he grinned at me and I grabbed the food that I wanted and heading over to grab the bowl that I needed.

"It's better that we don't tell him," Kurt explained to me now in his low tone of a voice now as he took a bite from his banana and he was tapping away at his smartphone there in his other hand.

"If we try to ask him if we could come by, he would probably say no," Luis went on as I eyed him with the milk in my hand. It was quite humorous how the three of them worked together and almost talked like they were one unit or one pack.

"You three are something else," I said to them in a smirk now as they were grinning from what I said, "Are you three like the three musketeers?"

"Naw, I think we're cuter," said as he wink at me and I rolled my eyes and poured my cereal on the counter and another pair of footsteps were heard, all of us looking as Hank was coming into the room. He persuades he saw the three musketeers there, eating his food, and I was waiting for some odd reason for him to bring down the house from seeing theses men eat in front of him. However, much to my disappointment, he just snorted.

"Nice to see you gentlemen making yourselves at home," he said to them, almost under his breath and trying to make it sound so nonchalant, but I could tell it was almost aggravating to him as he walked over to me and grabbed a mug for his coffee from the cabinet, "I'm giving you the day off today."

"Really?" I asked after I took another bite from my cereal.

"I think I've run you dry for the past few days with all the work you've been doing, so I'm offering an olive branch here," Hank explained as he then got his coffee going in the coffee maker.

"Very noble of you, boss," Kurt said in a genuine manner, in which Hank looked over at him with a pondering look.

"As for the three of you, go into the study and get ready for the planning we have today. I'll put you boys to good use since you're already here," He said,t he three of them chuckling to themselves as they moved out of the room and over to the study. If I had a morning and afternoon off, which was rare now, I had to think of what to do with my day. I didn't want to lounge around here, for some reason it would take off a bad vibe for me if I stayed here and wallowed in my now self-pity of being single, hunted down by a millionaire, and trying to leave me own past in the dust. I could think of a place that was good enough to clear my head, away from a real amount of technology.

The GYM.

* * *

The GYM that I would go to on a semi-regular basis was about halfway full with people there already, which was nice for me since I got onto the machines within a few seconds after I walked in. Even though I wasn't a competitive Gymnast anymore, I would come from time to time to work out and keep my muscles there just for the sake of keeping something of a normality in my life. The GYM was a place for me to think, t unplug from the technology part of my life really, and to be able to get back with my own head again. I liked working on the machines, building up more strength for myself and to push myself farther and farther.

After I would work on the machine for a good portion of the time, I would head over to the backroom of the GYM where they would have gymnastics practice for the youth on the weekends and early mornings throughout the week. Even though it was late morning, no one was in there, and I was already buddy buddy with the owner of the GYN, so he would have me work in there for about 30 minutes before he would close off the room before he went on his lunch break. It was a nice deal that he gave me, I knew he didn't have to, but since I was nice enough to get him on better wifi accessibility when his old set was busted, he said he owed me.

They had a large rope I would climb from top to bottom plenty of times, a balance beam, plenty of pads all around for me to stretch and price my old gymnastics moves on along with a big foam bed tucked in the corner for me to spin into. It was nice to have the whole room to myself, being able to go from one place to another without having to wait in line or having to hear it from an impatient client there at the GYM.

Get him out of your head, Emma. Get him out of your head. It was the mantra that I was playing over and over again in my head, almost like it was a record player that was not going to stop. I thought it was going to be easy enough for me not to think about him, to just get my own thoughts in another place like I did before. This was never an issue, not before because of the guys I dated in the past. Hell, there were barely any boyfriends to begin with, and if there were they were mere glimpses in and out of my life. Why was it a problem now? Why was I thinking about him a lot and liking to talk about him, and why was it that him talking on the phone to another person bothering me?

What in the hell was wrong with me?

* * *

After my rousing session at the GYM and going through my own torment of trying to not picture Scott as someone I would like in the near future, I pulled up to the front of Hank's house with my bike, pulling my helmet off and hearing some laughing from inside the house. That was a true first for me to hear since the house was never a place for people to be laughing a lot. Not that it was a bad thing, but still it was odd for me to hear as I walked over to the side door near the driveway. The closer I got, the more I heard the laughter and then some running around on the hardwood floor. It was an odd thing to hear as I walking up the porch steps, the running stopping and no other sound was heard for a moment or two.

"Who's at the door, daddy?" I froze, hearing the small voice of a child on the other side of the door before I heard some small feet walking through this door.

"Wait a second sweetheart—" Scott was cut off before the door was flung open and I was greeted by a smaller child, almost 9 years old maybe now as she was looking up at me with a tilt of her head and I was at a lost for words. She had long brown hair, dark enough for me to see some of the sun in the brown highlights as she too had dark brown eyes that made me think of those chocolate kisses that you would eat as a kid. She was a beautiful little girl, a good amount of innocence there on her face as she was wearing overall shorts, a green shirt underneath and a butterfly pin in her hair and Chuck Taylors on her feet.

"Are you Emma?" She asked, her voice sounded so pure about it and so curious. I was still shocked to see a small child there as another pair of footsteps coming my way, having me finally look up to see Scott there right behind her and he looked like he was caught one again. Scott had a small smile on his face, kind of the same smile that I thought was beyond cute, and yet I looked down at the little girl and I saw the exact same smile too. It didn't click in my head just yet, and ti was taking far too long until I suddenly looked shocked.

Oh…..this is.

"Emma, this is Cassie," Scott said in his kind manner to me as he placed his hands on the door frame over the girl like he was the protective shield over her, "Peanut, this is daddy's new friend that I told you about," Scott was a father. _He was a father_ , and this little girl was his little girl. _His_ daughter and it was all coming together like a puzzle picture pic by piece. Cassie grinned at me, I could see that she lost one tooth on her bottom row and her grin was almost radiating off of her now, like Scott.

"Nice to meet you," She said to me, very polite and innocent at the same time. I couldn't help but smile at her and I nodded.

"I'm happy to meet you too, Cassie," I said back to her, seeing her giggle from how I talked to her, "I'll be honest, your daddy didn't tell me he was a daddy."

"He does that sometimes," Cassie said with a grin as Scott looked down t her with a raised eyebrow, "My dad's silly sometimes."

"You're right," I agreed, Scott finally stepping in and placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"Peanut, why don't you go and finish your homework? I'll help you with the math part in one second, let me talk to Emma," He said to Cassie as I watched her nod at him and move around him to go back into the house, skipping as she went. It was still sinking in with me that he was a father and that it was never brought up before in conversation, He finally looked up at me, like he was about to spill his deep dark secret that he was hiding from me and was trying to find the right words for it.

"Listen, about that—" I cut him off before he could say anything else.

"She has your smile," He froze when I said that, a small smile on my now lips as I said that, "Adorable really."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner," He explained to me in an apology, "I really wanted to tell you some time ago," he paused, having me see that he was thinking to himself now about what he said and what he wanted to say then, "It's a tricky thing for me to talk about her these days."

"Are you….divorced?" I asked him, not wanting it to sound like it was a hated thing or something that no one really should talk about, nothing taboo. He didn't say anything, I could tell the guilt there was on his face when I said it, and I asked it like it was just another talk between the both of us, not that I was offended that he was divorced. But now I felt bad, and it made me want to fix it now.

"There's nothing wrong with that," I urged him, seeing the drawn look on his face and I shifted there in front of the door, "Let's be honest: most people get divorced these days anywho. I'm not gonna judge you on that end of the whole thing," He eyed me, almost not convinced just yet as I was sincere with him and I bit my lower lip.

"I was just….shocked that you have a child," I said to him, still trying to make it sounds more casual than worried.

"Yeah," he agreed, "I mean, it's not that I don't want to talk about her, because she's amazing and all…"

"It's just a touchy subject," I ended it for him, seeing him go quiet again and I tried to think of any other thing to say for him to feel better. I wasn't a parent so I couldn't say I knew what he was feeling, but I was still feeling as though I had some kind of responsibility to make this conversation normal again between the both of us.

"She's adorable," I said with a smirk now as I cocked an eyebrow at him, "I don't think she got that from you, though." Scott eyed me back now, the smile was back on his lips and I was getting those butterflies again within my stomach and this time, I felt like I wasn't going to push it down and away from me. This time, I was going to let it sink in and keep still.

Be still, my heart.


	8. Chapter 8

"How was school today, peanut?"

"It was good, I got to work on my art project that my teacher wants me to do for the art show."

"That's great! What are you going to do?"

"I wanna paint a picture of our family," I was listening in on the conversation between Scott and his daughter, watching like a spectator at a tennis match back and forth between them and seeing how they talked to each other without any real pain or effort in it. They were sitting at the kitchen table on opposite ends of the table and Cassie was driving some chocolate milk from her own glass. I was sitting against one of the counters and watching from afar as they were talking, having my own heart flutter a bit from how Cassie would giggle at something her father would say, or how Scott would look at his daughter like she was the literal light of the whole world.

"What do you do?" I was taken back to normal time when Cassie asked me that question,and she sounded so genuine and curious with me now as she was watching me with those big brown eyes. I was stumped at that point, not knowing what to tell her or what to say that would not make me sound like a crazy person. Cassie was still pretty young, but it was still concerning for me for what I was about to tell her.

"I work with computers," I said to her, keeping it very simple.

"Kind of like my daddy?" she asked me, having me give Scott some kind of eyes that were mostly asking him to help me out there with his daughter.

"She helps people with computers that might break, peanut," He explained to her, "She's real smart too."

"As smart as you?" Cassie asked him now with curiosity there in her eyes, and I was so close as to tell her no and let her dad be the one between the both of us to be smarter.

"Yeah. She's even smarter than me," Scott cut me off with a sudden twist of events, having me look at him not in shock but in intrigue now since he was really complimenting me to his own child. It might have been another conversation hat he was having with her, but with me, it felt like he was really trying ti place me on top of some kind of platter. It felt a bit moving, but also out of place too since I was not used to being complicated like this. This was new, almost fresh and unreal in my opinion.

"I don't think that part is actually true," I said in a hesitated manner with her, seeing her still watch me with her wide eyes and a look of pure intrigue as I cleared my throat and thought of another topic that I could tell her that would not involve me being a hacker. Would she even understand what that was? I didn't want to know.

"What's that?" She asked me, pointing to my ear, in particular, to my hearing aid. I looked at her finger that was pointing in my direction, and I saw the color leave Scott's face as she did that. I could tell he didn't want that to be the topic, my hearing, and he was about to tell her not to say anything else but I knew that I wanted this to be less award than it could be.

"Cassie—" he started, about to reach over to talk to her when I spoke up instead.

"It's my hearing aid," I explained, seeing Scott look over at me as I took it out and held it there in my fingers there for Cassie to see. My hearing then was now a bit fuzzy without it, but my focus was on her. I knew she was naturally curious, she was not going to be cruel about it. But there was a taboo in the world about having to walk on eggshells around me with the topic of my hearing when all I wanted to do was live like a regular person there and not have the eggshells around me.

"This helps me hear better," I explained to her, "You see, when I was really young, my ear stopped working normally and this helps me hear like everyone else."

"Why did it stop working?" She asked me, looking from my hearing aid to her. Now that, I knew I had to lie to her. How could I tell a young child that I lost my hearing from my father who was under the influence? That part of my life was something I tried to hide as much as I could, to not bring it to light even again because it was still raw and disheartening to think about. Scott was watching me too to see what I was going to say to her and since he didn't know the truth either, so it was safer to lie to the both of them.

"I don't know," I admitted to her, lying through my teeth, "It just stopped working the way it should. But this makes me hearing things much better, but sometimes I can't hear things." I placed the hearing aid back in my ear now as she cocked her head and looked at it some more.

"I think it looks cool," She informed me, having me cock a grin at her.

"You think?"

"Almost like you're a robot," She stated, having me already feel the awkwardness fading away between the both of us now as I think thought of another topic that she might like for me to tell her.

"I do gymnastics," I added, seeing her face light up yet again now as I said a new topic that parentally she liked.

"I'm in gymnastics class! I just learned how to do a flip on the trampoline there!" She said in glee, having me feel a small smile there on my lip from the enthusiasm that was there all over her face and in her voice.

"She's pretty good at it too," Scott affirmed to me about Cassie as Cassie shot up from her chair and sprinted over to stand next to me.

"Can I show you my cartwheel?" She asked me, almost bouncing on the toes of her feet now I was looked a bit shocked at the amount of energy this small man had. It made me look over at Scott and shrug my shoulders since I didn't know what to say to her. Honestly, I was fine with kids, but for some reason, this one was making me feel a bit awkward and scared at the same time. Maybe because she belonged to Scott.

"You can show her outside out on the yard where there's more room and less of a threat for Uncle Hank to yell at you," Scott said to her, having me hear her squeal now as she bolted from my spot over to the side door and outside. She was gone within a flash now as Scott slowly got up and I did the same, watching the door that was still swinging a bit from the amount of force Cassie used when she opened the door.

"As you can tell, Cassie can go from zero to a hundred really quick," Scott said in a nervous kind of manner, "Sorry about that,"

"Don't worry about it, she's great," I answered back to him as he rubbed the back of his neck,"I like her."

"You don't have to say that to be nice," Scott wanted me with a small smile there on his face.

"Oh come on, she's a great kid," I reassured Scott since I felt like he had to hear it. But I could see it in how he was talking to her, or even looking at her, that he loved her more than anything in the world. It was special for me to see,

"I think you're the first….well…the first lady friend of mine that she's met," He admitted to me, having me raise an eyebrow to him.

"Let me guess, you were nervous?" I asked him, almost in a teasing manner with him as he chuckled and nodded his head.

"I get protective of introducing people to my daughter, and since I divorced my ex-wife, I didn't think I would be having my daughter meet more of my friends, given the circumstances," He explained as we both walked over to the side door and I could hear Cassie giggling about something maybe out on the lawn.

"Never took you as the overprotective kind of dad," I joked with him as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh har har," he retorted back at me as I shoved my hands in my back pockets there as I could feel the cool breeze from the sky coming through the house from the open door.

"Honestly, though, Scott. I think Cassie is wonderful, and I bet that's because of you," I explained thoughtfully and with kindness. Scott eyed me, his light eyes were making me feel frozen there in the doorway as we were staring at each other with kind eyes and warm smiles on our faces.

"Thanks, Emma." he thanked, the warmth was heard in his tone as he smiled at me and I could see the color of his hair from the sun, "I think she does like you,"

"You think?" I asked him, seeing that he was about to answer when I heard Cassie finally speak up since she talked to be in the kitchen.

"Come on! I wanna show you!" She said in an excited manner, having me move away from Scott and finally focus there on the little girl who was standing there out on the backyard and was waiting for me to watch. As soon as I stood there and grinned at her, she finally did her cartwheel, moving with a breeze to it. She hit the landing with her hands above her head likes hew as putting on a show, and I clapped from seeing the sight.

"That's a good cartwheel if I do say so," I said to her as she did another one, already on a roll as this one looked a bit better than the first tone After she did her second one, she looked over at me now with that intriguing look in her eyes.

"Can you do a cartwheel?" she asked me, having me smile at her as I was shredding my jacket and leaving it there on the grass along with my shoes.

"Mind you I haven't done a simple cartwheel in years," I said to her in almost a reminder as I walked over to the open area near Cassie. She watched me with hawk eyes now as I then got into my first position, look dead ahead of me now as I not only did a cartwheel but a roundoff right after. It was like riding a bike all over again: it was coming back to me naturally as I looked back at Cassie and she was looking at me like she was meeting God for the first time in her life: in shock and in awe.

"How did you do that?!" She asked in shock as I looked at her with a hug of my shoulders.

"Well, I practice," I replied back to her, and it felt like it was one of those times you would watch an infomercial on the tv about staying away from drugs and staying in school. It felt surreal and almost awkward, but then again it worked from I could hear Scott snorting under his breath.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" She asked me, hope was there in her eyes as she looked at me. I smiled widely at her, thinking that this was not as awkward as I thought it was.

"Sure."

* * *

"Ghost, we have a problem," I was awoken to the sound of my phone buzzing away at around 3 in the morning, having me groan as to whom would be calling me at this house and throwing in my hearing aid in time to catch the phone call from Gibbs, who sounded more petrified than anything.

"You know what time it is?" I asked him in a grumble now as I was rubbing away the sleep from my eyes.

"I don't give a shit!" he hissed, "Didn't you hear me? We have a problem on our hands."

"Jesus," I said in a low tone now since I could tell this was serious from how he was sounding, "What's wrong?"

"Your old apartment has fed crawling all over it," he explained as I sat up in my bed and turned on the lamp that was on the side table to give my room a glow, "And guess who's had hunting the whole wipe down?"

"Please tell me it's some pay-over-the-counter middle-aged man?" I asked him, in hopes that it was nothing too and for me to handle. But I was severely wrong when the name that came out of GIbb's mouth made me freeze there in the bed.

"Tony Stark."

"Shit," I said in a gasp as I shot all the way up from my bed and my feet landed on the floor, standing there in the dark of the room and feeling my heart accelerating from thinking of Tony Stark being at my old apartment. What was he doing there? What was he trying to find? I knew both of those answers before I even had to say it.

"I say, get down here and look yourself," Gibbs explained to me.

"Yeah, and have him see me and then kill me on the spot," I replied back sarcastically.

"Like hell I want you to do that," He reported back at me, "I'm hiding out in the apartment across the way, you know the old one we would use on standouts. Come over and look for yourself, but stay in the dark," I cringed, closing my eyes and thinking of what the consequences would be even if I do venture over there and risk having him see my face. Does he even know my face?

I had to risk it.

* * *

I closed the door behind me gently, throwing my keys into my hand and walking a few steps over to my bike that was parked a bit behind the house near the garage. The moon was showing the town being a tint of light blue as I grabbed my helmet from the top of the bike, about to throw it on when someone spoke up behind me.

"I'm really tempted to wake up Hank and tell him you're going on a joy ride," I looked behind me slowly, seeing Scott there watching me with a curious look back in his eyes. I didn't know how to explain it to him in a way that would not seem like I was going crazy, but there was nothing else around it.

"Now's not a great time, Scott," I warned him in a harsh whisper as I was clutching the helmet there within my hands and I could feel my hands shaking with the thoughts of Tony Stark in my head and him rummaging through my things without a second thought to it.

"It is tempting, real tempting just to see his face when I wake him—"

"It's Tony Stark!" I hissed, seeing him go silent and look at my like he's just seen a ghost. There was fear on his face, fear and a hint of concern as I stood near my bike and I saw him go out and close the door right behind him without making a noise to it.

"What did he do?" He asked me, walking down the steps and over to me in a brisk manner to me.

"He's at my old apartment right now, trying to find clues that would lead to me," I replied back to him as I shifted and grabbed my bike with one hand to get the kickstand off the ground, "My friend's watching the place and he saw Tony Stark, along with some of his muscle army there looking through my old things that he didn't destroy."

"You think it's safe for you to go out there right now and have him see you?" He asked me, not convinced that this was a good idea for me to do.

"If there's anything there that could be maybe lead him to me, let alone lead him to Hope, Hank, and you," It felt like I was laying it on thick with him, and when I mentioned Scott, my voice sounded a bit too raw. I knew that Tony was looking for something, and if he found some kind of way to get to me, it was not only me that was going to be placed on the chopping block: PYM technologies would be too. Scott, Hope, everyone else that I knew would be in trouble, and I couldn't let that happen. Scott could see it on my face. Scott then walked over to where my bike was and took the other side within his hands.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, confused as to what he was doing.

"I'm coming with you," He replied smoothly and without hesitation.

"I don't think that's a great idea," I advised him, seeing him raise an eyebrow at me now like I said a stupid explanation to him.

"As opposed to you going by yourself into what could be a trap," He said back to me, having me pause then and see where he was going with this talk between us in the wee hours of the morning. I sighed, seeing him nod at me as he then hopped onto my bike without me giving him consent. I gave him a small glare as to what he was doing, seeing him roll his eyes as he held out his hands for the key apparently.

"I know how to get their faster," he convinced, having me toss him the keys and then throw my helmet on without thinking twice. I had to learn to trust him, amongst other people in my lives, to have some kind of placement there in my life, whether I liked it for not, and as much as it scared me to get on the back of my own bike and speed down into the town and to my old life, I knew that risks there going to have to be taken.

* * *

"Stop here," I said to Scott as he was slowing down on the bike and we were about to hit the intersection of the small area that I used to live in. The whole place was quiet, darkness crept over the small area now as nothing was heard at first while the both of us were at the corner of the intersection. As I took off my helmet and threw on my own hoodie from my jacket, Scott was stopping the bike and placing the kickstand down as I grabbed my backpack and dug through the bag before I could grab my flashlight and my binoculars.

"Gibbs is in the building across from my own," I said to him, looking over to the right of my old apartment and looking around for some sign that someone was there. Nothing was seen or heard just yet, no light was on. It meant that someone was watching in the dark: Gibbs.

"Hold these," I said to Scott as he threw up his hoodie and I handed him the binoculars and then I pointed the flashlight over at Gibbs's building, clicking it on and off once before I started using morse code there against the window that I thought he would be at. After I did the code that I wanted to use, I waited for a moment or two before he answered back with his own flashlight.

"Three guys in your apartment," Scott whispered to me as I clicked my light back to him in response.

"Gibbs sees at least five," I added, "All of them in black."

"Any sign of Stark?" Scott asked me as he was moving the binoculars around a bit to get a better angle.

"Not from his end." I replied, looking away from the window and over at Scott in front of me, "Give me the binoculars, I wanna see."

"Here," Scott said as we switch items and I looked through the lenses now, focusing on one of the windows. There were no lights on there, the darkness was a bit hard for me to see, but since there was enough light there from the moon coming in through the window, I could see the movement going on in there. People were going around, looking for something and I could see it on their faces as they were moving in and out of my vision there on the window.

"What would they be looking for?" I asked him in a whisper since I was trying to find out myself.

"Credit card, old letters with your handwriting? Maybe a picture or two." He asked me in a suggestion.

"Neither I would leave behind in there. The last letter I've written was about three years ago, and my credit card is always in my back pocket with my wallet," I answered back, "Maybe they're looking for my laptop."

"Is that your only one?" Scott asked me, looking over his shoulder at me.

"The only one that's important enough. If they found another one in there, it's a mock-up laptop, barely anything in there that would trace back to me. If anything, it's a bogus laptop that would leave a virus behind for anyone who would try and open it without the password," I explained, seeing him cock a grin at me now.

"That's clever," He stated.

"I try to be," I added back, hearing something break from my house and we both snapped our head over to see what was going on. I threw the binoculars on over my eyes again to look at what they were doing in my old apartment. Scott stayed still, his hands on the handlebars there on the bike now as I looked around a bit more to see one figure holding what looked like a broken picture frame. The glass there within the frame was shattered, but I couldn't see what picture it was, but who was the one that was holding the frame.

"Shit, it's Stark," I said in a low tone now, almost in fear since he was clearly there in my place, trying to find some kind of sign as to where I was. He didn't look too pleased with it all, holding the frame with a hint of agitation there on his face. I stay so still then, not wanting to move a muscle now as Scott tapped me on the shoulder.

"Let's go before they spot us, come on Emma." He said to me, having me move the binoculars away from me now and look down at him, "There's nothing for you there anymore, trust me."

At first, I was confused as to why he would say something like that, but from how he was watching me with his eyes, it was evidence for me to see that he was right: there was nothing for me there anymore. I couldn't have left any kind of clues for him to find me where I was with Hank. But this was still far too close for me to feel safe since he was now close enough for me to see him and to maybe see my own demise. At first, he was merely a TV screen away, but now I was seeing him in the flesh. This was getting more complicated as Scott started the engine and I zipped up my backpack again, the two of us riding back to the house.

I had to be more careful for now on.


	9. Chapter 9

"Emma?" Scott tapped on my door with his knuckles now as I was pushing my hair into a messy bun, seeing him poke his head in to see me near my dresser. The sun already went down, and after we had a communal dinner with Scott, his three buddies, Cassie, Hank, and Hope, I was about to hit the hay early that night.

"Heya Scott," I said to him as he kept his body outside in the hallway but his head was still in my room, it was almost comical really.

"I am clearly the messenger in this, but the Peanut would like to know if you would like to come out with us for some Yogurtland?" He asked me, having me grin at him as I walked to the closet and grabbed one of my comfort jackets to throw on.

"Oh really? Was it her asking or you?" I asked him in almost a tease.

"It was all Cassie, I swear to you," He promised, "We get a dessert overtime she stays over and she decided to have you come along since she clearly likes you,"

"I see," I said to him now as I walked back to stand in front of him and I shoved my hands in the pocket of the jacket. I felt like I was going to intrude on them and their own tradition, it was not for me in that kind of place and atmosphere with a father and daughter. I wanted to say all of that to him, not to mention I was still trying to navigate my own thoughts about him and this would maybe make it worse.

"Listen, Scott," I said to him now, trying to find the proper words about it now, "It's nice for you to invite me. It really is…but I don't want to intrude on either one of you."

The way that he looked at me, almost like I punched him in the gut from how I said it. I felt bad now, seeing the small amount of sadness there on his face from what I told him, but then again he gave me a small reassuring smile, softer this time that what I was used to with him.

"I want you to come with us, Emma. You need to get out of this place every once in awhile, and I would enjoy your company. As well as Cassie," he reassured me, that smile killing me once again on the inside now as I smiled back at him.

Who was I to say no?

* * *

"So, thank you choosing to join Cassie and myself to one of our favorite traditions," The three of us were sitting in a Yogurtland that was down the street, and I felt like I was about to have some kind of interview with both Scott and Cassie now as I was eating some of my strawberry yogurt with my green spoon that they gave me, "We have asked you to come with us so we can get to know you better."

"Well, thank you?" I said in mostly a question now as I still felt like this was unreal for me to be in.

"Can I ask the first question, daddy?" Cassie asked Scott as she was eating her chocolate ice cream. I could see how Scott was thinking to himself, either on purpose or just playing along with her game now with as he then nodded and Cassie looked at me, sitting up in her seat like she was about to say something very important. Her eyes were pouring in my own now like she as trying to read me and I felt very scared, all from one little girl.

"What is your favorite animal."

I looked from her to her father, whom smiled at me and nodded his head with a wink on his eye now as I grinned and looked back at Cassie. Her face was still serious now as she was waiting for my answer.

"Elephants," I stated, seeing her give me a confused look now as I sate a mouthful of my yogurt without hesitation.

"Why elephants?" She asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why not? They're big, they live in big families, and they never forget." I replied back to her smoothly now as she then had that information slowly sink in, a grin appearing on her face.

"What about you? What's your favorite animal?" I asked her now as she was swirling her yogurt a bit with her spoon as she thought of it herself. I even grinned at Scott who was eating his own dessert and he was chuckling from the look his daughter was giving me.

"I'll go with the Blue Whale," Both Scot and I looked at her with a look of shock there on our faces as she ate a big mouthful of her dessert.

"Why a whale, peanut?" Her dad asked her now as she grinned from ear to ear.

"Because they sing to each other when they talk," She said it so nonchalantly now as she then spoke like a whale, moving her voice up and down and almost sounding like a cow really. It was a bit too loud, having me chuckle a bit as Scott hushed her as he too was trying to not chuckle in front of her. She giggled when she finally stopped and we have a comfortable silence there between the three of us now. I shifted in my seat there, taking another bite and feeling more at ease about being out with the two of them.

"I have one for you," Scott finally said to me as he placed his spoon back in his cup and then on the table before he placed his hands folded on the surface. I knew he was making this fun for his daughter, since Cassie was snickering as he was giving me a posh look on his face, and I was trying not to smile and giggle from what he was doing.

"What is your favorite flower?" He asked in a mocked posh accent, Cassie giggling next to him as I snorted a bit from how he was presenting it to me. I gave him a playful glare now, seeing him grin back at me after he said that as I then thought of my answer.

"Sunflowers are my favorite," He watched me when I said that, and the way he was watching me almost looked like he was memorized about something that I said or what I had on me. Once again, I was caught off guard by a reaction that Scott was giving me since it was quite rare for me to get from another person, let alone another male.

"Why Sunflowers?" Cassie asked, snapping me away from Scott's eyes and looking at his daughter now as she was once again looking at me in curiosity.

"They're unique, like me I guess," I replied, thinking of nothing else to tell her about my favorite flower. Cassie just kept eating her yogurt now with a small smile on her face as I did the same, thinking that this night was very pleasant to get me out of my own frame of mind. But I would forget to see who Scott would look at me every once in awhile.

It was unusual, but what was not unusual in my life anyhow?

* * *

"What's your favorite color?"

"Blue, kind of like the ocean. What about you?"

"I like yellow, it makes me think of sunflowers. They're my favorite, like you!"

"Mine too!" Cassie giggled as she was working on her homework at the kitchen table and I was working on my now laptop with some upgrades and programs that I was going to place in the Pam computers the next morning. It was another day at the house, Cassie was visiting for the day since her birth mother was working late and Scott offered to have her stay at the house since it was bigger than his own apartment. Cassie loved the house, she was cute enough to just bash her eyes and Hank being a pushover for her. I was still working with Hank and getting more money with him under my belt and in my account, so I knew that sometime soon I would have to move out and get my own place, under a new name if I had to.

Since I saw my old apartment being raided by Tony Stark and his muscle party, I was a bit paranoid about what I would do on the internet and what I would buy. It scared me still since this was the only time that I thought my hacking experience was going to get the best of me in the end. But I was still going to try and move forward with my life and be a better person than who I was before.

Within that moment I could hear Scott and Hope talking to each other, having me look up now and over at the door to maybe hear what they were going to say to each other. I heard nothing on their end since it was far too quiet for me to hear in, all thanks to my hearing aid. But from what I was feeling about it, it felt like they were having another rousing round of a fight.

"They fight a lot," Cassie said out of the blue now as she was writing some more in her homework, having me look over at her now with a raised eyebrow. It was a bit off for me to hear something like that from Cassie, whom was an optimistic ray of sunshine and was never negative about anything.

"Who?" I asked her, wanting to really know what was going on.

"Daddy and Aunty Hope," She explained as she turned the page in her notebook, "I don't know what they argue about, but I know they fight."

"Really?"

"Yeah," She made it sound almost nonchalant about it now as she finally looked over at me with those warm eyes that she got from her father, "But they're still friends with each other, I know that for sure," I was once again floored from how she was handling this whole thing and that concept of friendship and fighting coming out of her mouth. It made me wonder how mature she was for her age, and yet she was still holding the innocence within her beautiful face.

"What makes you say that?" I asked her now, wanting to tap into her brain a bit more to see what was rattling in there.

"Well, my daddy says that you fight with you friends because you care about him," I could see her father in her, and it was not just with her eyes now. She was wise beyond her years, and I might have known that Scott had something to do with it and with how she was viewing the others around her in the world. I started to appreciate him more and more now.

"You're pretty smart, Cassie," I voiced to her, seeing him giggle and point to her homework.

"Well, I am the smartest one in my class," She agreed, and I chuckled there from the simplicity of it all now as Scott now was walking out of the other room and over to his daughter, who was looking back at her notebook with a small grin on her face

"How's the homework coming along?" Scott said as he finally walked over to look over Cassie's shoulder at the book there that she was working on.

"The math part's hard," She confessed to him now as I was looking over at her, about to ask her fi she wanted help when Scott plopped down before I could even start talking.

"Let's see what we have here," He said to her as he looked at her paper and I could see that his eyes were already going to work over on the paper. Even just watching him and how his eyes were brighter from the lights in the room, it was giving em butterflies.

"You're good with math?" I asked him casually now, seeing him grin now as he was still working with Cassie.

"I did get my masters in engineering, so math's pretty simple to me," He replied as heels were heard coming into the room, all three of us looking over to see Hope there standing at the doorway there. She looked a bit tense there at her spot.

"Hi, Aunty Hope!" Cassie said to her in a cheerful manner, in which Hope smiled back at her.

"Heya, Peanut," She said to the little girl before she looked over at me, "Can I talk to you for a second, over in the parlor?" I could see out of the corner of my eye Scott throwing his eyes from Hope over to me, almost like he was not liking what was about to happen. I didn't like what was about to happen myself, since Hope and I were on good terms, at least I thought we were. I was about to get up from the table and walk over to her when Scott once against snapped his head over to her, his eyes were no longer warm but looking like he was giving her some kind of warning in their orbs of his.

"Hope…" He said to her in an undertone since Cassie was still there, Hope eyeing him and then slowly looking back at him. I walked over now, not looking at Scott since I thought it would be worse for me if I did, the both of us leaving the room and having me feel the tension between the both of us. What was she going to talk about with me? Did I do something wrong already at Pym? Why was Scott not liking the idea of the two of us being alone in the room?

It had to be serious.

We walked into the parlor, Hope standing in the middle now as she walked over to one of the end tables where one of the PYM laptops was sitting and already open, showing me another news clip that I haven't seen yet that clearly must have involved me.

"I don't want you to think that I have something against you, Emma," She started her conversation, having me watch her carefully now like I was about to go into a trap at any moment with her.

"Okay…." I trailed off, seeing her point to the laptop now with her finger but keep her light yet concerning eyes on me.

"Tony Stark is trying to find you, and I can tell because he hasn't found you yet, that he's going to be using any kind of way he can to get to you," I knew it was about Tony, but I didn't think Hope would want to be involved in it too. I stayed silent now as she kept going with her explanation, thinking that it was the best option for me at that moment to hear what she had to say,

"He's not the only one who wants you," I raised an eyebrow at her now, now seeing that the convention was going to be taking deadly turn for the worst as Hope went on, "There's been talk about an organization that is also interested in the jacket who took down Tony Stark, and they too have a bounty on your head," That news was like a not of bricks hitting me in the face, everything around me coming to a scratching halt now as I looked down and had that information invade me. I slowly sat down at the nearest seat next to me, the cushioning of the chair sinking in a bit now as I held my face in my hand and tried to breathe. Now there was more than one person wanting to get their hands on me.

"Should I be a bit concerned as to who?" I asked her in a low tone now as I finally looked away from my hands covering my eyes and up at her. She passed, not saying anything at first for a split seconds before she then grabbed the laptop to hold it in her hands over for me to see. I looked from where I was hunched over and my hands were on my lap now, seeing the image on the screen of the sigma of the organization that was notorious for starting mass chaos around the world. This was not good at all, and I felt like I was about to lose my life between now and within the next days because of who it was and what they were capable of.

HYDRA

"Shit," I said in a shutter now as I held my face in my hands again, trying to breathe and not lose my head yet. HYDRA was a bad organization, dating back decades ago when they thought they were the superior kind of people in the whole world. Hell, there was a whole situation with them inveigle Captain America and how he stopped them yet again They were a tourist group, wanting to rule the world with an iron fist, and now they were after me apparently from what I did to Tony Stark.

"What do they want with me?" I asked, mostly to myself but it was still out loud for Hope to hear.

"I don't know, they seem to be the silent type when it comes to publicity," Hope replied to me in his small tone now, which made me believe that she too was concerned about this, "However, I stumbled about this going through a lot of security and protocols. They are really wanting to find you, maybe have you work for them, but none the less you are on their list now."

"And you're warning me to what, not leave the house for awhile?" I asked her, trying to think of the many ways that I would have to live out the rest of my life under a rock, or until I die. If I thought before I could have a possibility of staying alive, then it was now shot down to bits now.

"Hank seems to think that you're safe here," Hope said to me, having me look up at her now and see her place the laptop down and then think to herself with a weary look on her face. I wanted to know what she was thinking, and it was then that I knew that she was talking about myself to Scott mere seconds before. They were talking about me, HYDRA wanting me, and my own safety now being more fragile than anything.

"You don't think so?" I asked her shakily now, seeing her now watch me with her own set of eyes that had enough history behind it that would make me cringe.

"Right now my top priority is making sure PYM technologies is going to remain stable," She replied to me, once again having me feel like I was sitting between a rock and a hard place now because of how she was saying it. Of course, she would be concerned about the face of the company since her father created it. I would be too if I was in her position, but then again it sounded like she was telling me then again that she was less worried about me and my own well being. No wonder Scott was livid with her, at least I wondered if he was livid with her because of this.

I had to make a choice.


	10. Chapter 10

I shoved the last piece of my clothing into my bag onto my bed, having me breathe out and look at my room that I was about to leave. Since I left my conversation with Hope, I knew that underneath her tone that she was mentioning that I should really be careful of who I was around with, all because the target on my back. If that was the case, all for the sake of HYDRA, then I would place this whole house and who lived there. That would mean Hank, the one person who granted me a second chance at this life, to Hope who was still a good person that I knew, and of course Scott.

Damn, Scott.

Of course, I would get this kind of feelings in me about him when I knew something like me being a big threat would happen. I didn't want this to happen, and now it was all going downhill from here. This could not end well as I zipped up my bag and then grabbed the handle there to move over to the door. I had to make this right, even if it meant that I was going to go out of this safe haven and into the real world once again. It was a stupid idea that I was about to do, go away from protection, though I had no idea what kind of protection that PYM would give me in comparison to the firepower of HYDRA. What could PYM do? Was it worth being here when I knew they would be in trouble because of me. Who was I to let them get hurt?

I opened the door and walked out of the hallway, walking a few steps and then once again hearing a set of arguing down the stairs now, having em freeze before I could take the first step down the steps. It was Hope, a bit faint now because of me now needing to turn up my hearing aid, but then again it was Scott too, and it sounded a bit heated at the bottom.

"Why would you tell her?" It was Scott, I could hear the anger in his now voice from all the way up here, and it was scaring me that he could sound like that.

"She needed to know the situation that's happening, Scott. She's in real danger, and if that has anything to do with—" Hope was explaining to him now as Scott finally cut her off.

"Pym? You're more concerned about the company than her well-being, her own life?!" Scott hissed at her with more venom in his tone than ever.

"You know I didn't say it like that, Scott," Hope retaliated back.

"Yeah but it was implied. I get that she was not part of Pym in the first place and this is your company, but she is still someone who needs us and needs our protection," I felt like I shouldn't hear any more of this, it felt wrong and it also felt too tender for me. I shouldn't think Hope would be someone like this since she was still kind enough to me to have me think of her as a friend. But then again, now that I heard it from her, it was almost like a betrayal. Of course, now I would have to leave, but now I didn't want to go out the front way and have them see me with my head hung down in fear and neglect. This time, I had to be sneaky. It would be wrong on my end not to say goodbye to Scott, but it was better than trying to explain what I was feeling.

So I fled through the bedroom window.

* * *

After I parked my street bike along the street, I decided to find a decent place with wifi to look up another place for me to live, since going back to Hank's house was apparently was a no go on Hope's end. I would get out go dodge and start all over in a new place with a new life, it would be too risky for me to leave now really and I would place more people in danger because of who was after me. Tony Stark was not the only one I had to be afraid of.

The sun wasn't out that day, making it more dreary than even really when it started to rain and I threw on my hoodie, covering most of my face and hiding from the rest of the world. I was listening to the pattern of the raindrops on the cement, my boots stepping in their own rhythm and feeling the raindrops on my head. I was too distracted, which was not something that would happen to me since I was blindsided and someone grabbed me from behind, Throwing their arm around me and shoving me against them while covering my mouth with the other hand to stop me from screaming out for help.

It all happened so quick.

The stranger thew me up against the wall, my head hitting the brick wall in a jolt that almost have me scream out in pain as he threw his hand against my neck, making it almost impossible for me to breathe and he leaned close to me, too close for my own liking, and I could see under his own hoodie that he was smiling, as if he won some kind of prize at the county fair.

I was his prize apparently.

"So," He said in a low almost sister manner, whoever he was before he reached with his spare hand and moved my hoodie away to have me be in clear view, "You're the little hacker that is stirring up trouble," I said nothing, well I couldn't say anything since he had a vice grip on my neck and I knew it was going to leave some bruising there for sure. I wondered who he was working for: Stark or Hydra. I tried to hear it in his voice now as he tilted his head at me and reached over to my ear, where my hearing aid was. I was struggling now against his grip as he touched it, almost like he was about to toy with it. I finally got a good enough group on his wrist where it was in front of me and I threw out my other hand at him in a fist to try and break away from him. That backfired, seeing him knock my hand away with his own spare hand and hit me hard across the mouth and face that I screamed out, throwing my head to the other side and my hearing aid falling to the ground then from the sheer force he had on me.

But then, he was thrown off of me.

I fell to the floor, my face hurting so bad from the slap and the bruise was already forming there as I was looking to the ground, trying to focus now since my hearing was now thrown off. It was making things harder for me, almost having me stop and freeze in order to focus on the sound that I was hearing: struggling. Finally, after a moment or two, I looked up and over to see two men fighting each other, at least one of them fighting and the other one winning apparently. But the second one, the victorious one, would both appear and disappear at the same time. It was almost like I was watching a magic show, someone being there and then gone within a second like he wasn't there before. Was I imagining things? Did I hit my head that hard when I was about to be murdered? I still feel disoriented and out of place with my own head and my breathing when I was still seeing that trick in front of me, my vision was getting clearer and clearer now. It was suddenly come into reality now who was fighting off my offender.

Scott. In his suit.

The man was now unconscious, up against the wall and was not moving anymore as I was resting against the brick wall there, having me watch Scott now as he walked over to where my duffle bag was and then he placed it next to me, looking down at me with his helmet still on. I was mostly afraid to think that this was really Scott here, since the last time I've seen him in the suit was when he broke into my apartment to recruit me. But I had no idea that he could disappear into thin air. That part threw me for a loop, and it was scaring that not only was this possible for a human to do, but it was Scott that was doing this.

My ears were still ringing from what happened, so when he tried to talk to me, I heard nothing but mumbling and I stayed quiet. In my own case, I was still drinking in what he did in front of me and how it al happened so quickly and almost felt like I was watching an out of placing movie right in front of me. He then tapped something on the side of his helmet, making the face of the helmet move out of the way and I finally saw his face.

He looked scared.

I could see it in how his eyebrows were knitted together, his eyes were showing the sadness and worry there as he then looked at my ear, seeing that my hearing aid was and then he looked around in a fleet of panic for a moment or two. For some reason, I still couldn't move a bit from all that I saw as he reached over about 6 feet away from and I watched him, seeing his fingers wrap around my damaged hearing aid.

I felt my heart breaking as he squatted down in front of me, my hearing aid there within his gloved hands. For some resonate affected me, my own hearing aid that I worked hard on and kept for years, and now it was nothing but pieces in his hand. It was worthless, and now I felt worthless without. I could hear okay without it, but that hearing aid was a part of me and now it no longer existed. I started to cry there,e silent tears were going down my face as I felt Scott scoot a bit closer to me now, grasping my arm there with his other hand to get my attention. I watched him with my blurry eyes now as he nodded at me one.

"We'll go to Hank," He said, I could read his words and hear a bit of a muffled version of what he said, and I nodded in agreement. I didn't feel like running away from him anymore, and the fact that he saved me was enough for me to get by.

Time to go back.

* * *

"What do you think?" I placed the new hearing aid into my ear now, feeling it out for a second or two with the doctor in front of me now as he was waiting for my answer. I looked at him, hearing things again in my deaf ear and I nodded at him. It was a success on his end, seeing him smile as he tilted my head away from him a bit to get a better view of my ear with the aid. I could see Hank, Scott, and Hope at the other side of the room, Hope standing near the door, Hank a bit closer to me now as he was walking over and Scott in one of the charts, hands folded on his knees and watching my every move.

"It's top of the line. The testing process is almost complete and we've been having great results from this model, one of out newer cochlear implant models that we haven't placed on the public market just yet," The doctor explained to Hank now as I sat there and heard the clarity in his voice and then hearing the electricity in the fluorescent lights about me in the room, "But, because of your generous donation to the hospital a year ago, we are willing to make an exception to you Hank."

"Whatever it takes for her to have the best: She is one of my best employees after all," Hank explained to the Doctor, in which I saw Hope look down a bit almost in a hurt fashion with the look on her face as Hank went on, "We do have a great health plan."

The doctor chuckled, "I think you're going to be placing the other companies to shame because of this, Mr. Pym." he then looked at me now and smiled, "I'll let you use this for two weeks and I want to see you back there to check on you and the product. If anything feels out of place, you call me."

"Yes, sir," I replied seeing him grin once more and he grabbed his file and walked out of the room, having me sit there on the patient table with Hank, Hope and Scott looking at me now as I was thinking of what I should tell them. I wanted to say something, anything to get this awkwardness out of the room, but my tongue felt like cement then as Hank eyed me.

"Are you okay?" He asked me now as I looked at him in suspicion. I nodded, though my neck was now revolting against me for moving it and I squinted a bit from it. Scott instantly shot up from being my discomfort on my face. He walked over too, standing next to Hank now as he looked at the damage on my face then.

"Doctor said that this bruise will heal up quick, and the cut there on your jaw will take a bit to heal," Hank explained as he too was looking at my face up and down with his eyes. I felt a bit shameful for leaving the house and almost walking into my demise, and I felt like he was about to scold me for what I did now as he sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers there.

"I take it that you were not very happy about hearing about Hydra?" He asked me, having me take in a swallow in my mouth before I could even speak.

"I'm a liability now, Hank," I admitted to him, seeing him eye me now in confusion stop what I meant when I said that. I took in another breath, knowing that I would have to explain to him what I was thinking about, "Stark and Hydra are after me. if they come and find me in your home, you all will be in danger…because of me. I don't want to risk that since you've been nothing but kind to me,"

"You weren't going to risk us, Emma," Scott reminded me in a confident manner, laced with a hint of sadness there and I looked from Hank to him, "Trust me, we can handle someone like Stark.'

"And Hydra?" I asked him back.

"Hydra's not our main problem," Hank said to me now as he was coming back in the conversation, "I don't care who placed that thought in your head, but Hydra is not going to be our main threat. That's not how they operate," I looked ahead, not wanting to avert my eyes to her to give it away, but I could see Hope shifting a bit now in uneasiness from that explanation. Hank then turned his head slightly in her direction, Hope seeing this as some kind of signal or sign. She then averted her eyes down and left the room, closing the door behind her, and it made me think that she knew that she was caught with what she said to me.

"I don't want you to think that you're not safe with us, Emma," Hank reassured me as I raised an eyebrow to him now since I wanted to bring up another subject that was haunting my mind that very day.

"Is it because Scott can somehow disappear with a drop of a hat?" I asked him, seeing him freeze a bit as he looked at Scott now. Scott returned the look, but he looked more determined about it than anything as he then looked back at me and took in a hesitant breath.

"That is something that we didn't tell you…not yet," He explained to me, having my eyes go wide at him now since he was somehow telling the truth: Scott did something that seemed impossible.

"What did he do?" I asked him, wanting to know more and more now.

"I'll explain it to you when we get back to the house," He paused, "If you want to come back to the house. I won't hold you hostage, but I do think that you should stay."

I was still torn about what was going on with me, about who was after me. I knew that the rational part of me should go and find somewhere to lay low and hide, to get other people out of my own troubles and not get them involved. That was the smart way to do things, at least that's what I thought in my own head. But then again, Hank and Scott already proved to me that they wanted me to stay and not leave them behind, to work for them and have my second chance at life. Hank still wanted that for me, and who was I to say no to something like that. I had nowhere else to call home, I still had nothing of real importance to my name. I was still at ground zero, with a small amount of money to calm as my own, and an uncertain future ahead of me.

"Please stay, Emma," I heard Scott ask me quietly, and I looked over at him with my bruising neck and jawline to see that, there in his stance and how he was watching them, and he wanted me to stay more than anything. I owed him more than I could ever before because he saved my life, with whatever gift that he had, he saved me. It showed that he cared and he wanted me to not get hurt anymore, or at least in trouble. Just seeing the look on his face and how he asked me to stay was enough for me not to break his heart.

I had to stay.


	11. Chapter 11

"Okay, so what I'm about to show you, is gonna look a bit odd," I was sitting there on the couch there in the lounge back at Hank's house, Scott standing in front of me with his helmet there in his hand and the uniform on. It was the day after I had my run in with whoever it was that wanted to kill me. Hope was gone, off back at PYM since clearly Scott and Hank wanted her not to be around me anymore. I didn't know if they were sore at her for what she said to me, or whatever the case was, but Hope was not going to be near me for the time being.

Kurt, Luis, and Dave were there, scattering around the room and watching too, though I could see it on their face that they have seen this before. I was the only one who was still seeing this for the first time. Scott was standing right in front of me and watching me the whole time like he was worried about what was going to happen and my own reaction to what he was about to do. I was still out of sorts from what happened to me and my bruise was still feeling terrible there on my neck. Then again, with my new hearing aid in and my life back on track there at the house, I didn't even know what was going to happen in that room.

"Whatever you do," Luis started, having me look behind me at him and I watched him standing near one of the windows as he eyes me with his small smirk on his face, "Don't blink."

"Good grief, Luis," Kurt said back to him now under his breath as he was typing away at his own laptop at one of the tables in the room. I looked back at Scott now as he placed his helmet on his head. I was just wanting the answer to what happened with him when he saved me from the man some time before, how he did it and made it look so easy and careless.

He smiled at me, a reassuring one but it was still hesitant then as he tapped the side of his helmet and the cover went up over his face. Ready, I was feeling a bit uneasy about it as he then tapped something on his hands on both sides. Just like before, at first he was there, but now…

Now he was gone.

I was shocked by what I saw there, almost shooting up and feeling my head spinning again but this time, it really did happen. Before, I thought I was hallucinating and out of my own element, the trauma from the attack doing it to me. But now I had no excuse to think about how this was working. and It made me loose my voice for a moment or two and blink a few times to make sure that I was really seeing this.

"Scott?" I asked out loud in hesitance now as I shot up from the couch and looked around the room, and the rest of the people in the room looked like this was another day there at Hank's house. I was still wondering where he was and what he was doing,

"Look down slowly," I could hear his voice, a bit softer than before but it was clear enough for me to hear. He was here, was he here? I looked around to see if he was hiding somewhere.

"Where are you?" I asked out loud, thinking that he could hear and at this point, he might have been hiding behind one of the bookcases and thinking of this as a big old' joke.

"I wouldn't move from your spot, or you're gonna squish him," Dave said to me in an advised kind of manner, having me look at him and see him slowly point down at the floor where my feet were on the carpet. I looked down, very slowly now since I felt like I was about to be surprised at something there. What was I going to see? I looked down at my feet, my sneakers were still on the carpet there and at first, I saw nothing there, thinking now that I was placed in some kind of joke there.

"Down here, Emma." I heard his voice once more, clear as day and now it was right where I was looking at the carpet. It made me squat down a bit, now seeing something so small there a bit brighter and more distinct against the dark carpet color. It was very small, smaller than my fingernails there and I had to squint a bit when someone was walking over to me now. I looked up to see Luis handing me a magnifying glass.

"You're gonna need this, at least at first," he commented as I took it from him. I was still confused as to what was going on, and now when I placed the magnifying glass right over where I heard the voice, right near my left foot. It was now bigger through the glass and I saw it. Or at least, I saw him.

Scott and he was the size of an Ant.

"Hey there," He said, waving his hand at me as my mouth fell open and I was looking at him in shock. It was his uniform, of course, I could see his helmet and how his uniform looked, and I was trying to convince myself that this was once again a trick. But it felt so real, seeing him there behind the magnifying glass, he was there. It was astonishing to see him so small there in front of me, to hear his voice someone out of his small body.

"Scott?" I asked him, my voice sounding a bit high pitched for my liking.

"Tada," He replied, doing some kind of jazz hands, having me gasp out between my lips then as he was standing there, looking up at me and having me clutch the glass there between my fingers.

"How is this possible?" I asked him, shocked and curious about what was happening in front of me and how he was the size of an insect.

"That would have to do with me," I looked over, as did the other three men in the room, as Hank was walking into the room and noticing how I was squatting down to look at the carpet with a magnifying glass there in my hand and shock on my face. He looked amused about how I was reacting to this, let alone nonchalant about the whole thing too, "I was the one who invented the suit in the first place."

"He hired me to wear it," Scott explained to me as I looked back at him on the floor now, cocking my head at the notion now.

"He hired you?"

"That's a story in itself," Hank said now as he walked over to stand next to me now and look down at Scott, "But I think we can save that for another time. Scott, why don't you come back to normal size? Emma, you should take a step back," I shot up when he said that to me, backing up a few steps and within another one or two, Scott grew back to normal size once again. He was back looking right at me, having me lose my breath from the instant growth of size and I finally saw him move within a fraction of a second.

I saw his face finally after he moved the front part of the mask and I could see him waiting for me to react to what I just saw there. What was I going to say? It felt like my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth now as he was waiting for me to say something about what he showed me.

"So…" Scott trailed off, seeing the blank look on my face and how I was trying to find the right amount of words that were needed for something like this.

"So…" I mimicked, "That was some trick," That sounded mean, I knew that and I could see that this was going to be a bit uncomfortable now for the both of us, the moment of silence there was deafening now and even for me.

"Let's give them some space," Dave said to Luis and Kurt now as they could tell that we both needed to be alone and talk about it. The three of them moved out of the room, having me keep my eyes on Scott, now the room was full of silence.

"It's kind of normal if you think about it," Scott reasoned with me now as he got his helmet all the way off now and placed it on the end table that was near him and I saw his dark hair sticking up a bit all over the place from being under the helmet.

"Well when you put it that way," I added, thinking that sounded more sarcastic than anything. I took in another breath now as I was ruffling my hair with my fingers, "It's just….a lot to drink in."

"Yeah, yeah it is isn't it?" He asked, having me hear the optimism there in his voice. Even in this awkward situation, he was keeping it light and funny between the both of us now and I couldn't help but smile back at him. But drinking in the fact that he just shrunk in front of me to the size of an ant, and it was normal here in the house apparently, was still making me feel heavy in the head. I finally sat back down on the couch, breathing in deeply now as Scott was still standing, walking over to me slightly.

"Is this a normal thing for you?" I asked him, seeing him think to himself.

"I mean, not a 100% normal," He replied casually, "I would give it a 75% normalcy rating if I could."

"That's reassuring, I think," I replied in hesitance, then giving him a weary look now, "Does Cassie know?"

"She does, she found out about it in a way that was not how I had it planned," He replied in more of a tank back manner, finally sitting down next to me now and sighing, thinking about his daughter in his head, "Back a few years back, when Darren Cross took over PYM and that whole situation at PYM went down, he went after Cassie in the Yellowjacket suit," I looked at him with wide eyes and I could see it was hurting himself for saying that about what almost happened to his daughter.

"He was trying to get to me, and the only way he could get to me was through her," He explained, now looking over at me now and having me see the hurt in his eyes and in his tone, "I wasn't going to let him hurt her to take her away from me, so I had no choice but use the suit in front of her,"

"How did she take it?" I had to ask him since she was younger at that time and it might have rocked her. If I knew Cassie as much as I knew her now, something like that would have rocked her.

"She took it rather well, which was surprising," Scott replied back to me in a light manner, "Now she thinks that I'm some kind of superhero or something." He looked unconvinced when he said that statement, having me give him a tilt of the head to have me wonder what he was thinking now in his own head.

"And you don't think you are?" I asked him since it felt like he was not going go I've himself the kind of credit that he should. He gave me an unconvincing look now, having me now really want to hear his answer.

"I'm not Captain America or Iron Man, though I'm going to technically call Stark a superhero since he's more talk and show, but I'm just some crook who's trying to get his life back together," He explained to me, in which now I was giving him one of those hard looks that my own mother gave me when I was feeling low on myself. I had that moment of disbelief in my own ways when I would feeler lower about myself than any other time. It felt like Scott was going through that kind of thing now with himself and how he viewless himself versus how his daughter viewed him.

"She sees you as a hero, Scott," I said to him, keeping it plain and simple now for him to drink it in, "I know she does. I see it in how she looks at you and how she looks up to you, it's the same way I look up to my mother who works 3 shifts just to keep me afloat: She sees a hero," He watched me, drinking it all in now as I was trying to show him the truth. I felt what he was feeling at one time, feeling insignificant to one person whom on the contrary belief saw me as more than enough, beyond more than enough. Scott had to see that.

"You really think that about me?" He asked me, not sounding desperate but sounding on the fence about it. It made me smile at him, having me already remember myself asking my mother the exact same thing and she smiled back at me, how I was smiling at Scott.

"I really do, Scott," I replied back without a second thought to it.

* * *

"And…that is the last of it," I said, sighing in relief now as I leaned back in my chair and Hank was looking at the screen there with the improvements that I had on the security system. It was another day at the office there in PYM, and one Scott and I had our talk about Scott with his suit, and then his relationship with Cassie. We were seeing eye to eye with each other, and even with the light way we were talking to one another, it felt normal one again with me in this whole complicated and unique way of life now we were in.

"This should be able to keep our security up for another couple of weeks with nothing going under," I explained to him now as I rubbed my eyes and yawned from the lack of energy that I was feeling. It's been a few long hours there at PYM, and with the lack of sleep that I was getting,

"Well done, Emma," he said to me now as he looked from the screen over to me, "I wanted to ask you, how's the implant holding up?"

"It's better than ever, thank you. I can pay you back—" I started, but I saw him shaking his head and waving me off from that kind of explanation.

"No need, it's fine for me to pay it for you," He explained, though now I was about to give him a questioning look.

"Hank, I don't want you to take this the wrong way at all, but I don't take charity a whole lot from other people really likely," I tried to make it sound so kind, since my whole like, I was not meant to take charity. I hated taking things from people since they were giving them to me to either give me pity or to make themselves feel better. That would rub me the wrong way when I knew I could provide on my own without help or aid.

"It's not charity," Hank replied calmly now, seeing the uneasiness there in my eyes now as He went on, "It's called being a friend."

"Hank, Do you copy?" Hanks' walkie talkie went off, having him look away from me before I could say anything else in my own defense and he picked it up.

"What is it, Hope?" He asked into the talkie now as I got up from my chair there and I saw someone walking over to our area of the floor, well more than one person really. They were all dressed in black uniforms, but they weren't cops. I knew that, not from experience, but I saw that they had a different uniform on there. It made me worry now as the doors into the room and they were flooding into the area. Everyone else that were working on their computers and watching now with shocked looks not her faces. I was wondering what was going on when I heard Hope on the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"I couldn't stop them from coming in, they said that they wanted to talk to Emma," The static reply from Hope was heard now as they stood right in front of both Hank and myself. There were at least 5 of them now, all of whom were looking dead ahead and not having any kind of sing for me to see if they were going to be nice or not. But I saw the sigma on their shoulders there, and it made me realize who they were. They were a group that I didn't expect to see nowadays.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" hank asked, trying to sound almost civil about who was there in front of us. They said nothing, not at first now, but the two who were in the front moved out of the way now and I saw that someone was in the middle of the huddle of soldiers, having me now see who was walking over to our direction now. He was a bit taller than me, maybe the same age as me and he had a curious look about him as he was wearing street clothes himself. He eyed me now, looking at me up and down and having me gulp there.

"Are you Emma?" He asked me, his voice was low and professional, but it as some kind of edge to it now as I looked over at Hank to see what he would want me to say. He nodded at me the now, having me look back at the man and nod my head at him.

"My name's Sam Wilson, and my partner wants to talk to you."


	12. Chapter 12

There I was, sitting in a dark room there with a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents watching the door and having my own head be filled with questions. The room had a circular table there and one light shining down in the middle of the black table. They took me to a secluded area of San Francisco, a place that I had no real clue existed since it was are there except for the building I was ushered into. I didn't think this kind of organization would be in contact with me, let alone wanting to talk to me about whatever it was. Did they get wind about my hacking with Stark? Or even with Hydra? That had to be it, right?

Oh hell.

I walked out with the group of men, all of whom were surrounding me like they were flanking me in case I was about to do something stupid. Which was odd, since I was still too scared to even talk to this so called Sam Wilson. He looked intimidating, that or he was not even close to being happy for being there picking up and a young female. I wouldn't be happy either, and since it looked like I was being arrested and was being escorted out to a black SUV now that was parked on the side of the street. The other workers at PYM were watching with wonder and shock now since it looked very suspicious. But it was even worse when I saw Hank and Hope watching, both of whom had grim looks on their faces. It only made me wonder if they were going to tell the other guys, even Scott. Of course, they would tell Scott, and I wondered how he was going to react. I felt like he was going to be furious.

The doors finally opened, having me look up to see two figures walking into the room and the door closing behind them. Because of how dark it was and how I was positioned, I couldn't see who it was and if I would be threatened, but since I as not tied down to anything I ruled out the latter. But it was when they stepped into the light.

Captain America, and Sam Wilson right behind him.

Great.

"Hello, ma'am," Captain America said to me, having me look at him with wide eyes now since I was thinking that this was some kind of trick. He was right there in front of me, wearing street clothes really and not his usual red, white and blue uniform, but he as really there. It was almost scary to see him in front of me and how he was looked more content, but with a serious side to him, and it shocked me since I've only seen him on the TV when the Avengers would be saving the world. But not now, and he was talking to me. It only made me think of what he wanted from me.

"You're Captain America," I stated to him, trying to sound civil but it almost came out as a squeak, seeing a small smile on his face at how I said it at him.

"That I am, but if you want, you can call me Steve," He explained to me now as he folded his hands in front of himself, having me see the muscles there along his arms. it made me think that he could snap me in half if he could, a big if really.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I would rather call you Captain America right now," I said slowly as I placed my hands there on the armrests of the chair I was occupying.

"I don't know if Sam told you why you're here," he said to me, motioning to Sam behind him with his head slightly, "But we've been following you for quite some time."

"You're not the first one," I said to him calmly, "But no, he didn't mention that bit." I saw Steve look behind him at Sam for a mere second before he looked back at me, shifting a bit as he walked over a bit more to the table, closer to me. I stayed still, wondering now what was going on and why I was there.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been wanting to get in contact with you since you hacked into Stark Industries," He explained to me, having me tap my infers against the armrest now in anxiety since this was around round of questioning me and my motives. Hank already grilled me once, well it was;t grilling more than casual conversation, and I was wondering if Captain America was going to do the same with me.

"What we want to know, is how you did it," He said to me, more of a statement than a question. I eyed him, now a bit confused as to what was going on and why he was asking me this, instead of why I did it and if I was signing up for a death wish.

"You're asking me how? Shouldn't you be arresting me right about now?" I asked him carefully, seeing him shake his head.

"At first, they wanted to, believe you me. But since you're the only human being on the planet that actually hacked into Stark Industries and was successful, I figured you needed to explain yourself," He explained to me, having me eye him once again now since it felt like it was all now clicking in my head as to who was with whom, when it came to allegiance.

"Did Tony Stark ask you to get me?" I asked him, seeing Sam behind him shift a bit now as he crossed his arms in front of him, "Look, if you're here to bring me to Stark, might as well do it now while you can."

"Stark doesn't know we're here," He replied behind Captain America.

"But he knows that I'm still around, that he didn't catch me," I added to the conversation, "And I don't think he's real too happy about that thought. I thought you guys were working with him, or for him or whatever."

"Just because we work together doesn't mean we tell him everything that we do," Captain America explained to me, having me now gaze at him with a hint of shock there on my face from what he said. I didn't want to believe it, and yet I was still not really giving in to what was going on there in that room. So I stayed still now, seeing him eye me up and down not in a threatening way.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. also knows about HYDRA and their open calling card for you to take," He explained carefully, having me feel like I was about to squirm a little there from hearing the other group that was after me, "Since we've not had a real great history with them in the past, we figured we would get to you first."

"Get to me?" I asked him, not liking what I was hearing since to me it sounded like a threat.

"Your protection was our top priority," Sam explained to me from his spot in the background.

"Why me, though?" I asked them both, leaning up a bit and folding my hand on the table, "Just because I hack into a system in under 3 minutes now I'm a threat to the world?"

"HYDRA seems to think so," Captain America explained to me, "And I happen to know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is against all that HYDRA stands for, especially placing civilians at risk," He sounded so true about it like that was his life motto. But it also didn't feel like ti as fitting with him and in how he spoke it like it was some kind of script that he had to say and it was not fitting right on his tongue.

"So you want to protect me from HYDRA, and Stark yet he's an Avenger?" I asked them both, seeing either one of them say a word or two and it made me tilt my head at them now since I knew that I was seeing something else behind this, behind this secret meeting that they were having with me.

"You're both lying about something." I stated to them, seeing Sam eye Captain America for a moment but either one of them was caving in with what I told them, "At least you're not telling me the whole story as to why I'm here."

"What makes you say that?" Captain America asked me, calmly now as I smirked at him, leaning back in my chair and tapping my cochlear implant with my finger.

"I may be deaf, but I can read people more than others. I read body language, and I can read it very well. Your stances are stiff, eyes shifting slightly from left to right, fingers trapped in a cramped style under your arms and the balls of your feet are shuffling a bit underneath you. You're both hiding something from me" I explained, watching Captain America's eyes on me shift them and I then knew that I got him. He was hiding something from me that I should know but he was chasing not to tell, that or he was ordered not to tell. Either way, I knew something was up. I moved my hair from my eyes now as I looked between the both of them.

"Look, If I survived this far without Stark finding me, I doubt HYDRA will be looking for me anytime soon," I admitted to them both now, "Trust me, I haven't been hacking since that nasty incident with Stark since he broke into my house."

"He did what?" Captain America asked me, sounding more shocked about it while he gave me a confused look. I looked beck and forth now between them both, seeing that they had no idea what I told them. I thought they knew, since they worked with him, but given how they were receiving this new kind of information, they clearly didn't. It made me look at them now with confusion on my own face.

"You didn't know that?" I asked now in a low manner, the both of them exchanging looks with one another now as a phone went off in the room, Sam moving away from Captain America and myself now and talking on the phone in a hushed tone in the corner.

"Are you sure?" Captain America asked me, having me almost want to scoff at him since it makes me sound more like a fool than anything.

"I saw him with my own eyes, in my apartment and ripping the place apart," I stated to him, not wanting to sound vicious about it, "He took all that I had left in my name, so it's safe to say that I'm not the biggest fan of him at the moment." He paused from hat statement, thinking to himself now as Sam walked back over to him, his eyes changed to determination now as he spoke to Captain America.

"Our mission starts in a few hours, they want us back at headquarters," He explained to him, in which Captain America nodded and looked back at me as Sam walked out the door without talking to me. HIs eyes poured into my own, having me see that shift there and how I was the reason for it.

"Our offer still stands: Our protection on you against HYDRA." he admitted, having me sit there and think about it for a moment or two. This was not another plate I wanted to juggle in the moment of my life, with too many things happening at once and making me feeling chaotic about it. Even with the thought of another realm of protection around me, it didn't seem right in my opinion.

"I'll think about it."

* * *

They pulled up to the front of Hank's House, having me open the door and see none other than a group of people there on the front yard. They were all a bit shocked from what they were seeing: me popping out of a black sleet van and with a blank look on my face as I stepped out onto the grass, trying to connect my thoughts together. Of course, I would ride in the same car as both Captain America and Sam Wilson, both of whom were sitting quietly in the car and looking on as I was walking out from the car over to my friends there, my allies.

I took a few steps, looking back at the car and seeing Captain America there in the front passenger seat, Sam was sitting in the back with me and I looked at the both of them. I wanted to ask them for one request, the one that I knew I should have asked before but now it was making m tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth because of all that happened within the last hour or so. Even with the sun shining on me and having me feeling the cool breeze coming through from the bay, I was still too preoccupied with the conversation that I just had.

"Your information won't be shared with Stark, or the rest of the Avengers," Captain America reassured me now as I was about to ask them to keep our talk that we just had confidential. I was more worried about the thought of someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. knowing where I lived with Hank and the rest of the pope there. It would scare me that they would be in trouble, or at least on their radar. Everyone was on the radar of S.H.I.E.L.D. nowadays, but now should this be different? I hated far down the hole I was going, farther and farther down. It was like I was Alice down the rabbit hole with no sense of going up.

"Thanks," I said to him simply now as I finally looked away from him and I heard the window going up on the passenger seat side of the car. I saw the group that was there at the house on the lawn, which made me think that apparently Hank told them what was going on with me and where I was going. Did they even know where I went? Kurt, Luis, Dave, Hope, and Hank were there waiting for me as I walked up to them with my hands shoved in my jacket pockets and I eyed each other them. Hank looked worried, Hope had a look of uneasiness and the three of the guys were looking more starstruck than anything since I was in the same car as Captain America.

"Was that Captain America?" Luis asked me in a rush of excitement, Hank and Hope giving him an uneasy look now from how he was handling the situation.

"Yeah it was, Luis," I said blunt back to him now as Hank walked over to me in a slow manner, as if he was drinking it all in.

"You alright?" He asked me, now standing in front of me for the both of us to talk to each other and the others not hearing. I nodded at him, not saying anything really since I didn't know what to say about it.

"I'm fine," I lied, since I was feeling sick all over again from all that was laid in front of me, 'I promise I am."

"Well, it ain't every day that someone meets Captain America and gets to talk to him," Dave said in a chuckle now as Hope spoke up finally from her spot near her father. I looked over at her, seeing the uneasiness there on her face and how it felt like there was some kind of shift there in our relationship between each other, all from the HYDRA incident.

"What did they want to talk to you about?" Hope asked me, not in a demanding way I knew but still in curiosity, but her father intervened.

"We're not going to start with that, Hope," He wanted her, which was when I interrupted.

"They wanted to protect me from HYDRA," I explained, all of them were watching me when I dropped that bomb in the whole conversation. But of course the front door opened from the house and we all looked, having me already feel my stomach drop from seeing none other than Scott there, walking out of the house and down the front porch, walking to me with adrenaline there in his step now as he crossed the grass and over to me. Just before I thought he was going to yell at me from the look he was giving me and how he looked sourer than anything. Hank told him, I knew he did from the moment I saw his eyes when he came out of the house, but I didn't know how much he knew and his own reaction.

"What happened?" He asked me, having me want to say something to him when I heard the car behind me start to roll away. Scott placed his hands on my arms there, like he was holding me there to the ground, looking behind me and at the car as it was driving away with a cold look on his face like he couldn't believe that they would take me away for a certain amount of time. As soon as I knew that the car was far enough away for me to know focus on Scott and somehow trying to calm him down from maybe going into a rant about me and what was going on with me now meeting with some of the Avengers.

"Scott," I said to him, finally having him tear his eyes away from the car that was nowhere to be found and back at me. His eyes were still bright enough to have that warmth and honey glow grow within my stomach, but I knew there were confusion and uneasiness there too and I didn't want that for him.

"I'm okay," I reassured him now, moving out of his hold on my arms and without thinking about grabbing both of our hands together, lacing our fingers together and having me feel another wave of warmth there within my skin and near my heart. This was not the time for me to feel this, but it was happening. I hated it, but it was the reality for me now as Scott breathed out slowly and someone else finally spoke up about it.

"Let's get inside and talk about it later," Hank suggested, Hank and Hope finally tearing away from the both of us now as they were making their way back to the house.

"Yeah well now they're probably watching us from his skies since she spoke to Captain America," Luis said under his breath to Dave and Kurt as the three of them follow Hope and Hank now to the house, leaving Scott and me on the front lawn.

"He didn't do anything to you?" He asked me, almost sounding like a concerned boyfriend and I had to look t him with a scoffed look now.

"Really? Captain America of all people?" I asked, seeing him look at me now in confusion as to why Iw as saying this with lightness and not looking way more concerned than anything. I smiled at him and shook my head about the whole thing and how he was trying to play my knight and shining armor.

"It was just a thought," He grumbled, having me shake my head at the thought of him being concerned about me, it didn't seem right in his nature. But now the calmness was back there but the both of us now as he shifted a bit there in his stance and I ruffled my hair to calm my own self down to level myself against.

"Listen, before all of this was going on and you being kidnapped by Captain America…" Scott trailed off, sounding like his old self again as I rolled my eyes.

"Scott—" I wanted since I didn't want him to sound like that again.

"I was going to ask you out for dinner," It was an atomic bomb, everything is frozen there in the front lawn since he made it sound so peaceful and yet it was like I was about to lose my breath. What in the hell? How as it that I didn't see this coming? It was a shock really, and for him to think that he could ask me out from all the crap that I was going through. But there he was, asking me out on a date and it had to have been the stupidest timing in the world.

Of course, it would come from Scott.


	13. Chapter 13

_Don't panic._

Sure, my mom had to use that at the right moment when I was showing her one of the very few nice shirts that I had in my attire. Thankfully I went shopping after my apartment was long gone from repair. I grabbed some new clothes in order to live outside the fact that I had a pair of jeans, a v neck, and converse shoes. Thankfully I had the rhea notion in my head to get other shirts that seemed more girly than anything, which was perfect timing since now Scott wanted to take me out on a date.

A real Goddamn date.

 _How can I not panic?!_ I signed back to her since I feared that yelling at her in my room would have the others in the house hear what I was going through in my current state. So now I had her on mute and signing to her was the best bet we had. She understood, and thankfully she was helping me through the process of getting ready for a date. She was tired from a second shift, but nor tired enough to get me out of wearing a bright blue blouse.

 _Go with the dress, actually_. She suggested as I Looked at the one shirt that I was wearing. She wanted me to wear a dress? Did she want me to sweat?! I looked behind me at the closest now and I wondered which dress she was telling me about, but I could see the one mere dress that would even qualify as a good date dress. It was midnight blue, almost looking like it came out of the 1940's. I would rarely wear it, but I only had it from past banquets with gymnastics. My mother wanted me to have at least one dress that would make me more of a female than what I would usually wear, and I have my own mother to thank for that.

 _This is a bad idea, tell me this is a bad idea._ I signed to her as I looked back at the screen and I saw her shake her head finally at me as I was moving my hair around a bit with my fingers.

 _No, you look fine,_ She signed back to me now in reassurance as I nodded and looked down at my own attire: My midnight blue dress and black flats, my hair combed out and moved to the side with my bangs in a french braid and a couple of rings here and there. I wanted to look more presentable, not like I was just another jacket who had no real reason to venture out in the daylight.

 _This is my first date, what should I do? I_ asked her, feeling a bit of panic there when I was using my fingers and wondering what she was going to tell me. Should she give me some kind of pearl of wisdom there that she had in the past with my father?

 _Be yourself._ That was all hat she was going to tell me? Be myself? That didn't seem right, it felt like it was not the best thing for me to be since tonight felt like it was going to be far too different between Scott and I. I raised my eyebrow at her now as she shook her head at what I was thinking about.

 _I mean to be your true self, the kind that I know and love._ She signed back to me clammily now, having me smile at her now from how she was so serene about it. She was always my biggest advocate, no matter what I was going through in life. Even with all of the things that I was not telling her: the hacking and the money I was getting because of it, she was still thinking that I was some kind of saint. I knew I was no Saint, I was far from it, But here she was, telling me that I was going to have a good date and have a good time with this person that she barely knew. Did I barely know him? It was all scaring me and thrilling me at the same time. I had to go in, take the goddamn plunge so to speak and get this over with. Who knew where this was going to go.

Take a deep breath, She reminded me, having me breathe in and out with nervousness still there in my veins and the possibilities of the destruction of the night sinking in my head.

Take a deep breath.

* * *

"Don't take her to that sushi place downtown, that place has roaches," I could hear some of the conversation that was going on downstairs in the living room as I walked down the stairs and tried really hard not to breathe too air for too fast. I tried to make sure that my cochlear implant was working and that my breath was just fine. It wasn't my fault that I haven't been on a real true date before, a date that felt worthwhile since the last time I was dating anyone I was a teenager.

"I didn't have that thought in mind," Scott replied to Luis as he chuckled.

"But that one joint down near the pier, the one my cousin and his best friend bus for, I can get the hook up for that one," Luis explained to him now as I stopped at the last step on the stairs, wanting to hear a bit more before I turned around the corner.

"Luis, I think I know where I'm going to take Emma on our date, and it does not include a yogurt joint on the side of the road," Scott reassured him now as I finally turned the corner over to where the living room was. I saw the group of them talking together in the middle of the living room and they were all smiling, but I was instantly looking over to where Scott was. He was in the middle, rolling his eyes at Luis, and I saw what he was finally wearing. He had on a nice dress shirt, dark green and the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, black slacks, and dress shoes. He looked handsome, downright handsome, and it made me sweat a bit there thinking that I didn't look good enough for the date.

Damn.

"Noah, look at you!" Luis said in a grin now as he saw walking over to the living room. All of them looked over, and within two seconds they were all in stunned silence from what they were seeing. Once again, I was getting the sinking feeling of being the center of attention in front of everyone and being observed. But I was more focused on Scott, who had nothing to say but I could again see something shifting in his eyes. It was scaring me that he was saying nothing but just watching me, not in a creepy way, but in an appreciation kind of manner.

"You look nice," Dave said casually now as he then eyed Scott as soon he said that, thinking that he was about to overstep something that was said. But Scott was still quiet, finally speaking up with what seemed to be a frog caught in his throat.

"Hi," He breathed at me, having me feel the blush to my cheeks.

"Hi."

* * *

"I didn't know whether or not you liked pasta," We both were sitting at a small Italian restaurant there near the bay, the cool bay breeze was coming through the open windows of the place as we were looking at the menus that were in our hands. We took Scott's car over to the place that he thought would be decent for the both of us to eat at. I could tell he too was nervous about the whole thing.

"Pasta's good in my opinion," I reassured as we were looking at the menus and I finally saw what I thought would be good enough to eat. The soft music of the restaurant was enough for me to feel a bit better and see him looking at the menu nervously.

"I should have asked," He reasoned.

"You didn't have to apparently," I replied, "I think you made the best choice. If it was somewhere along the lines of a cheeseburger, I don't think that would have been great on your end." Scot chuckled now as he looked up from the menu over in my direction from his side of the table.

"I'm kind of glad we're doing this, you and me," He admitted to me now as I cocked my head at him.

"The both of us dating?" I asked him, trying to get it right in the conversation.

'Well, that too, but mostly just us being able to talk," Scott answered back at me truthfully, "With all that's been going on lately I haven't been able to talk to you, just talk to you."

"I know," I agreed.

"A part of me wants to blame Captain America for keeping you away," He said in almost a joke, but it didn't sound like it at the end. I just shook my head from that thought of him thinking of Captain America in that light.

"Don't do that to yourself," I joked back with him, "I do admit I have missed talking to you as well."

"And I don't think another around of us going to Yogurtland with Cassie would really count as us talking," He admitted to me as I chuckled.

"Well, I will admit that I love having conversations with both you and Cassie. She's a great child," I reminded him, "Who knew that she could sing like a whale,"

"I'm sorry she told you that," He apologized.

"No, I loved it. She could keep that much energy all her life, she'll be able to go places," I said. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm going to make sure she does the right things, as much as I can anyway," He said back, having me somehow feel the uneasiness of the dinner and all that nervousness melt away with a second thought to it. We were talking again, just talking like we have been for awhile before things started coming in and out of my life. It felt good to talk to him, about his life and what happened to him.

It felt at ease.

* * *

"What about your mom?"

"Should I be worried about what you want to ask me about her?" I asked him as we finished our meal there at the table. I leaned back in my chair a bit, folding my hands there in my lap as he smiled and shook his head.

"No, I just want know a bit more about her," he urged, having me think about what I was going to tell him about my mother. It wasn't that I didn't talk about her, I did talk about her to my friends and how great she was. I was just nervous about talking to him about my mother like I was opening another part of my life that I never thought I would with another person. It was another moment of having a scary moment jumping off a cliff, at least in my mind.

"Well, you already know that she's a nurse, right?" I asked, seeing him nod his head, "She's been doing that her whole life. That's alls he's ever done, and she loves it. She would try to take me out every once in awhile, but most of the time it was just the two of us."

"She sounds like a wonderful mother," He commented.

"Yeah, she gave up plenty of things for me to get where I am," I paused, thinking for a second about my father and how it was suddenly feeling cold in the room. Sometimes I would have this moment, thinking about him and where he would be this moment. My mother and I didn't care where he was and if he was okay, my mother had enough of him since she saw him in a brand new light that was not even close to healthy. I was fine without my father, but that didn't mean that I wouldn't think about him every one in awhile.

"Sorry," I apologized, thinking that I was sitting there in silence for far too long and now I was seeing Scott watching me now with a hint of concern there on his face, "I just…I just thought of my dad."

"You never talked about him," Scott mentioned to me, not in a matter-of-fact tone but it was kind of normal really. I nodded in agreement.

"I haven't seen him since I was two," I explained, thinking that the next thing that was going to come out of my mouth now as going to be really raw and tingly all over my skin, "He's...he's the reason why I'm deaf."

Scot said nothing, but I knew he was both drinking it in and giving me some kind of sense of space to what I was saying since this was a real confession that I was giving him. It was not fair for me to tell him, and I kept wondering why I was telling him these things since we were supposed to be having a good time and a good talk together.

"You don't have to tell me any of that, Emma." Scott reminded me softly, having me come back to reality and look right at him. He was far too kind, way too kind for someone like me that was coming from a messed up life. I knew about his now past too, his own time in jail and how he was still trying to be a better father to Cassie from his past of being a thief. We were both the kind of people that needed to have some kind of silver lining of a future, and no matter what kind of the past that we had, we would still have each other in a way to lean on.

"It's fine for me to talk about," I explained, "It's something that I have to get used to, and I'm still trying to get used to. But it's okay." I wanted it to end on a good note, a somewhat good one to be honest. Scott smiled in agreement, making me feel a bit better now.

* * *

"You sure you can't some over tonight?" I pushed the speaker phone on now since Gibbs was on the phone that late at night. Hank and Hope were at PYM working on last minute things with the company and the boys were out at a bar. Scott was going to go with them to have some time with them, and I reassured him that I was fine there alone at the house. I wanted to have some solo time anyhow, getting my bank account going and apartment hunting.

"I have other things going on, Gibbs. For one, I have to find my own place and I will not be telling people where it is," I explained, hearing him sigh on the other end of the phone as I grabbed my laptop to put on my bed and to work on.

"Oh come on, they are wanting you back here," He tried, making me smirk there as I got online to go to another site to work for apartments, "People are wondering if the Ghost will ever return to our side of town."

"Well, they're going to have to find another hacker to worship since I'm trying really hard to have a better life for myself. I have more than enough money to not go back and do that kind of stuff."

"You make it sound like what we're doing is a bad thing," He commented, almost like he was taking offense to it. I snorted.

"I'll be honest I think my hacking days are a bit behind me at this point since I've done it for far too long," I replied back, hearing nothing for a moment or tow before he infamy sighed in defeat.

"Just let me know how things are going, I rarely talk to you anymore," He admitted, having me nod in agreement tough he was not there in the room with me. I missed being around that scene too, with others that were not worried about me being deaf and where I came from. They were just fine me being me, another hacking there for them to know.

"I"ll talk to you later, I promise," I reassure him.

"You better, we can grab lunch later," He said, and after we said our goodbyes to one another we hung up and I heard something moving down the stairs. It sounded like footsteps, having me pause at my work there on the table and think of who would be back so soon without yelling in the house that they weren't home. It was odd, either Hank or Hope would come up and say that they were home, Scott and the boys would holler from the front door. So, this was beyond odd.

"Hello?" I asked out loud, getting off my bed there and walking over tot he door there that would lead to the hallway. It made me worry that something was definitely wrong and if someone got hurt since it was still far too quiet for my liking. I opened the door with my hand still there on the door handle, looking out into the hallway straight ahead. Once my head was out the doorway, I felt something cold and hard press against my head and I froze, feeling my stomach drop.

"Move and you're dead. You're coming with us."


	14. Chapter 14

**Scott's POV**

I knew something was wrong from the moment I pulled up to the house.

It almost made my stomach drop down, lower and lower now as I turned off the keys to my car and got out to be near the front lawn. Something felt off, and for one, it was because they left the goddamn lights on. I knew it was late, later than usual since Hank and Hope were still at PYM. They talked to me on the phone when I dropped off Cassie and I was about to head back and check up on Emma. Hank wanted me to grab something from the house before I jetted home, and now I knew something was up. I scanned the house from my area: the neighborhood was quiet and nothing was giving away any sign of a problem. But then the front door was open.

Shit. Emma.

I bolted, grabbing my phone at the same time and dialing Hank's number on speed dial as I ran across the front lawn and up the porch.

"I was just in the middle of a breakthrough here, Scott," Hank warned me as I got into the hallway, looking around in a frantic manner. I skidded to a halt, thinking that there had to have been some kind of clue as to what was going on.

"Someone broke in the house," I explained.

"What? When?" He asked now in a frantic tone.

"Just now, Hank! I pulled up to an open front door and the lights are on," I answered as I walked into the living room and saw a few things moved around: the couch shoved a bit to the side and some of the trinkets off of the end table were on the floor. From what I could tell, there was some kind of struggle. It made me no look at the stairs in a panic.

"EMMA!" I yelled, forgetting about the phone that was in my hand there as I bolted up the stairs and went two by two. Once I reached the hallway, I immediately looked down the hall to where I knew Emma's room was, seeing the door wide open. The carpet on the floor was disheveled, some of the pictures on the wall were on the floor and the glass from the pictures were all over the hardwood floor. Now I knew this was not good at all, and it made me think that I was about to see her passed out on the floor, if not worse.

It was going to make me sick.

"Scott? Scott! Where's Emma?" I could hear Hank on the phone still as I ran into her room. She was nowhere to be found There was no sign of her and it got me not petrified. They took her, whoever they were they took her and now I had no idea where she was and if she was okay. Finally, after seeing the whole room and being so close to punching a wall, I placed the phone back to my ear.

"Emma's gone, she's not here."

"What are you talking about, Scott?"

"She's gone, Hank! Someone took her!" I blurted out to him on the phone. I closed my eyes and squinted in the pain that I could feel was forming in my chest from all that I was taking in. Emma had enough things going on in her life, and now someone took her. It wasn't fair for someone like her, someone who was just trying to live and move on in her life. Everything had to go to shit for her, and here I was thinking that I could be close enough to someone like her. I thought it would be okay, for her, hell, for us. It snuck on me, the concept of us in every conversation we had it would be in the back of my mind. But now it felt farther away from it than closer like it did before, and I only wondered where she was and even if she was alive.

"We'll find her Scott," Hank said on the phone, having me finally open my eyes now and feel less optimistic about the situation.

"How is that Hank?" I asked him, a bite to my tongue now as I said it to him.

"You tend to forget what kind of technology I'm into."

 **Emma's POV**

* * *

The black bag that was over my head was now taken from me, having me blink a few times and notice that I was nowhere familiar, somewhere in a dark room with no sense of how big it was. It felt cold, almost having em shiver there in the chair that I was strapped to, both ankles and feet now and I saw a table right in front of me. Everything was quiet, having me blind once or twice from the bright light that was hanging over me now. Where was I? What day was it? Where are the others? Oh god, were they okay? Did they know if I was gone? They had to have known.

"You placed up a pretty good fight with my men when they took you out of Hank Pym's house," A heavy German accent was heard, along with a set of footsteps that were heading towards me from the darkness. It made me look dead ahead and freeze there in my spot in the chair now as the person that was talking came into the light, "But here you are, the one person that would send Tony Stark into a frenzy."

He was a bit older than me, I could give him that, but some about him and the way he spoke and look at me felt like he had something dark hidden about him and hidden up his sleeve. There was a coolness about his face, the loudness of his face and the lightness of his eyes and how he smiled. But it was just because he was the reason that I was tied up to a chair that made me intimidated by him.

"Emma, we get to finally meet and talk," he said to me, leaning down a bit to rest his hands on the cool table in front of me and tilt his head at me, like he was reading me himself and I stayed quiet a bit more to read him with my eyes, my tongue stuck in my throat, "Do you even know why you're here?"

I shook my head, hearing him chuckle.

"That little parlor trick with Stark, I must admit, I was impressed. Stark's not an easy one to get through with his systems, with his spectacular yet naive mind, even my men and I couldn't break into his walls and see all of his secrets. No one could, well, up until you. Such a simple young woman with nothing real big to her man can get through Stark's security walls like you were a mere child hopping a fence: pure genius in my opinion." He explained making it sound like he was giving me such praise there in front of me. I could see something off in his face, his he was speaking and yet he kept his eyes me and read my face all over. The way his fingers were on the cool table there in front of himself looked from stern and stiff than casual and calm, his hunched over stance there felt more rigid like he was on a mission. I knew it: He was up to something.

"Being that you're the only person in the world that can hack into the computer and genius mind of an Avenger, we felt as though we wanted to have some of that talent on our own team. Let's face it, brains are hard to come by these days, and you happen o be the very brain that I would want," He made it sound so sincere, and yet what came out of his mouth sounded a bit lethal and unethical. He stood up completely once more folding his hands in front of him now as I shifted in my chair.

"You're wanting to use me," I finally used my voice, thinking that I had nothing else to say in the moment now since it was true. I knew this was going to happen, someone out there was going to get to me and find some way to either tear me down for what I did or use me for something that they thought I had. I knew I was just another hacker in the world, but according to this man, I was some kind of God. I was no God, I was an insecure deaf girl who had a hacker for computers and falling for single dads who were thieves.

"You make it sound like a bad thing," He said in a light manner, so casual about the fact that he admitted that he wanted to use me, "I think it would be a great investing to my company and my men to have someone like you, being on board to help take down someone like Stark," So, this was all about taking the other company out while they had the chance. I felt something more sinister was at play here, but then again I was once again quiet about it since it was going to be more daunting than anything. Since I was the one who jabbed at Stark the first time, he now wanted me to jab at him again since I was the only one who knew how.

"What if I say no?" I asked, thinking then right after I said it that it was the stupidest thing to say to him in that moment. A flicker came over him, small but doable for me to see now since it felt like I almost touched a small nerve on him for saying no. What was he going to do to me now since I properly decline him? Shoot me? Leave me for dead on the side of the road.

Oh God, use me as bait?

"I would really have you think twice before you would say something like that, especially in the state that you're in the position that you're in," He advised me, his voice sounding a bit lower now and yet he was trying to make it sound like it was just another day in the office for him. I said nothing there, thinking that I should say something to him to make him feel as though he made the wrong choice. But then again, feeling the tight holdings on my wrists and ankles and how I was feeling the tingling feeling down my spine, I knew that this was no joke and I was not going anywhere.

I was stuck there.

"I'll leave you here to change your mind," He said to me, infamy moving away from me and away from the table now as he was about to walk away from me before he turned and looked at me once more. Just that look he was giving me, was enough for me to really fear him excuse he was so calm and yet so sinister at the same time for dragging me there without any real reason as to what they were going to do with me.

"By the way, I'm Helmut Zero, if you need to call for anything,"

* * *

 **Scott's POV**

"Let me go through the security feed."

"They cut all of those off, though, Kurt!"

"Well, Luis, you tend to forget that they didn't take out the entire security feed, just the sense. I know what I'm doing,"

"Okay, Russian Mafia. I leave it to you,"

I was sitting there in the living room with my head in my hands, thinking of all of whom would take Emma. It made me first think of Stark, and yet it didn't at the same time. Stark was too big of a person in the media to do something like this, at least in my mind it wouldn't make any real sense of go into kidnapping for something as simple as hacking. But then again Hank hated the guy and he knew that Tony was not one to be trusted. So where did that leave Emma?

Where in the hell was she?

God, I missed her. Since we went out on our date, I was thinking about her constantly and how she was doing with her life. I loved seeing her in that dress, it was perfect for her and yet she was still herself, talking to herself with that shyness that I liked about her. It wasn't that this happened so quickly, what I was feeling towards her. No, this snuck up on me very slowly and without any sign of wanting. I didn't think it would happen to me, someone who was divorced and who had a young child to fight for and to take care of. She was very opposite of me, and yet the same.

I cared about her, way more than I should.

"Scott, I might have something!" Kurt called out, having me shoot up from the couch and trot over to the kitchen, where I could see him hunched over the computer there and typing away with Luis, Hank and Dave right behind him and watching his every move.

"What is it?" I asked him in a rushed as I moved over to standing right behind him. He looked over his shoulder at me now with a determined look in his eyes, already in his zone.

"We can't get into the computer files that were planted in that camera around the house. whoever came through wiped them all out and I have no way to finding out who took her and where they went," He explained, having me almost want to deflate in defeat from what he was telling me, "However, I do recall a certain piece of technology that she always wears on hers,"

"What do you mean?" I asked him, not getting where he was going with this. He then whipped his head over to Hank now and pointed at him while his other hand was still resting on the keyboard.

"Do you still have the information and serial number on her cochlear?" He asked Hank, who gave him confusing look now as he slowly nodded his head.

"It's in my desk drawer, I didn't put it through my computer yet.." Hank trailed off, Kurt smiling at him.

"Bring it here, I need the serial number," He explained, Hank moving out of the way and over to his office to find it as I looked at him in question.

"Why do you need that?" Luis asked him.

"The cochlear implant that Hank gave Emma has a serial number, and since it's one of the newer products and models that they made, the serial number on the product can be traced," He explained to him now as I perked up from the idea.

"You think that would work?" I asked him.

"Of course, since the latest technology now can have you leave a trace on them and see their every move on the product without moving from you own office," Kurt explained, Luis looking a bit lost from what he was saying but I was nodding my head in agreement since ti sounded too good to be true.

"So…" Luis trailed off, having me look at him now with my smile back on my face.

"It means, we're going to find her."


	15. Chapter 15

**Scott's POV**

"Hope, keep an eye on the Peanut for me, will you?" I asked Hope as we were standing that threshold of the house, the rest of the guys were packing up what they needed so we can head over to the airport. Thanks to Kurt and his love for technology, we found out where she was and we were going to head over and bring her back. The place where she didn't sound familiar to any of us once we got the information and her coordinates, but we were still hopeful to at least sneak her out.

Not without a little bit of help.

"You know I will Scott," She answered back with a warm smile, "Just be sure to come back and find some story to tell her,"

"I'll make it a nice story for her this time," I said in almost a joking manner, heading her chuckle from my remark and nodding in agreement. Hope and I were on good terms, sometimes we had to level each other out and not have the other get the best of us, but we were still civil with one another when it wasn't going to work out between the both of us. She scared about Cassie, which was good enough for me to still talk to her and have confidence in her.

"Be careful, please," She asked me softly since it was just the two of us there, "I know I wasn't really that great, to begin with when it came to Emma…"

"Hope, it's fine—"

"No, I mean it. I have to work on that since I only saw her as a liability, not as someone you cared about," She interjected from me before I could get a word out. I just sighed and nodded my head, thinking that it would be stupid for me to argue with her. It was always impossible to wind in a talk with her, and this was no different. But I felt bad for her since she as blaming herself for what happened with Emma and how she was treating her in the first place.

"Well, maybe this next time you can give her that second chance Hank talks about all the time," I suggested with a shrug of my shoulders. She was reading my face once again and thinking ti to herself, and sometimes when she would make that face it would scare me.

"I'll try to remember that," She simply replied, having me hear two short honks from the car out there by the street in front of the house. I made me look over there now, seeing Hank was talking on his cellphone and he looked beyond worried now. Something didn't sit right.

Something was up.

"Dad?" Hope asked as we both left the house and walked over tot he front lawn and to the car. The other boys were sitting in the van, watching in earnest now as Hank moved the phone receiver away from his ear and he looked over at me now with something shocking behind his eyes. He must have heard something beyond words: either good or bad.

"They want to talk to you." He said to me in a small tone, now have me raise an eyebrow at him.

"Who?"

* * *

 **Emma's POV**

"Whats your decision this morning? Hmm?" He asked me, once again, to be part of his group of hackers. And once again, I was about to tell him no.

There was no going back from here.

I knew he was trouble, there was nothing else more to that. With what he wanted me to do, I knew that it was more trouble than I could afford, let alone a sane person. He wouldn't tell me what it was, or what I was going to be doing, but he as kind enough to not threaten me with a gun to my head.

Well not yet really.

I was waiting for that moment when he would lose his patience when he would finally cave with the personality that he was sporting just to please me and he would turn into the ruthless person that I knew he was deep inside. It was just a matter of when he was going to do it, to finally kill me and get it over with since I was not even close to being worth the whole struggle.

Was I even worth the struggle?

It made me worry about the others, who they were a bit worried about me and what was happening to me. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place: to place others in danger because of me and what I was capable of doing, They might be on the hunt now from this psycho guy who was holding me hostage. Were they going to be found out too, used against me in order for me to work for this guy? It might be so, and that would eventually kill me from the inside out.

"I'm still not wanting to work for you," I replied back to him calmly, thinking that if I was going to snap at him I was going to lose an arm or eye then. He kept his cool stance there, still looking at me up and down and thinking of what he was going to do with me next. I felt like I was about to push it, not matter how many times I was nice enough to tell him no, it was about to boil over now.

"Pity," he replied simply, like it was nothing really and sounding nonchalant, "I didn't want to resort to threatening the lives of others that you know," I shifted there against the wall as he was telling me this and he thought to himself for a moment now, "I don't want to place that older man in jeopardy…"

I felt the twinge of panic there going up my spine since he brought up Hank, I knew he was talking about Hank. He was threatening Hank now since I was not cooperating with him now. I wanted to tell him to not lay a finger on Hank, but I knew he was going to try and bring that out of men and then bring me under his command now. So I stayed quiet now to see what else he was going to do to me.

"But I think I'll go after that small little girl that you've made a kinship with," That was when I finally spoke up since he bought Cassie into the mix now. She wasn't even my own daughter, but for the plenty of times that I talked to her and grew to love her, it almost felt like she was family. I didn't care who this man was, he was not going to threaten her and get away with it, not while I was there and I was breathing.

Without even thinking twice, I threw out my hand in a bunch at his jaw. I was never one to throw out punches, but it was just because that I was there away from my new life that I was trying to bring back into focus.

But he was faster than me, way faster than me now since my punch landed on his jaw and within a few seconds he landed another punch that was harder and more intense to the side of my face and against my eye. It felt like a firework against my skin there, having me fall against the wall and crumble to the floor from how hard it was and how it almost knocked my air out of my lungs. It was so hard to blink and come back to reality again now since it was hurting all over my body and I heard nothing from him for a moment or two now. Was he trying to keep me down, to keep me from not speaking out against him? Well, it was working.

"I'll leave you to think about it," He replied sharply, getting up from crouching in front of me and he walked away over to the door now as I was clutching my face with both of my hands. It was throbbing my face there with how he punched me, and I was sighing in relief that he didn't kill me. This was some kind of tea tot see if I was going to fail once again in opening my mouth, or if I was going to live to see that next day.

I was in deep shit.

* * *

The only thing I could hear was radio chatter somewhere.

I was still stuck in the same room that I was in before when he brought me here, the scary man who was wanting or recruit me and have me work for him. My bruise was there on half of my face and from blood was there from how he hit me hard, having me feel more miserable than anything. Since I gracefully told him no, since I didn't think working for sienna like him who had "evil" written all over this face would look good for me at my end, he was keeping me there within that room and having me wonder if I was even going to see the light of day again. There was no real clue as to where I was, what time it was and how long I was there, but as the hours were lagging on and me sitting there in the corner of the room, I was getting less and less optimistic about my future.

My stomach was now churning left and right with both lack of food and the fear of being alone here in death, my own head was filled with far too many questions and depressing thoughts tog et me through for the day there, but since I was hearing that radio chatter in the other room now, I haven't heard anything from my kidnapper.

Something was heard outside the room now, having me crane my head over and looked a bit puzzled. It almost sounded like a scuffle really, I paused, sitting there against the wall with my wrists tied up and my head still swimming with both fatigue and lack of sleep and food, wondering what was going on outside. It only happened for a second or two, but then once again I was met with silence.

What was it?

The door swung up, as if it had a bit of force behind it now and it gave me a jolt in surprise from the sound that it made. I froze there, watching the door swinging open and someone walking in with a pistol in her hand and a look of sheer determination and fierce on her face. She was a young woman, maybe my age if not a bit older now with caramel almost blond hair back in a high ponytail and a Uniform on. She saw me instantly, walking over with a couple of soldiers right behind her too as he looked down at me with a glint in her eye. I finally saw who it was.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

* * *

"If you don't mind me asking, how long was I missing for?" I asked her now as we were being escorted back in another black van that had the familiar sense safety there written all over it. Since I was taken out of that hellhole with no real indication of what was going on, I just went along with it since the women reassured me that she was working with Captain America, and they got the word that I was missing.

"Two days, almost three," She replied as we were sitting next to each other and she had my file there in her lap, "Thankfully we got to you just in time when we knew he was being occupied with other matters."

"Other matters?" I asked him, seeing him pause before she looked at me now with a hint of resistance there, almost like she was not willing to let the next piece of news that she knew out of her mouth.

"There's a bit of a situation happening now with Captain America, Iron Man….and Scott Lang," I peered up when she mentioned Scott to me, in which my own stomach was dropping down to my feet. Was Scott involved? How was he involved now? What was he doing? It was making me panic a bit as he was in a line up with Captain America and Iron Man, both of whom were powerful in their own right, not to mention Iron Man was after me. Did that have something for Scott being solved with Iron Man? I thought he hated the guy, to begin with, I knew Hank did.

"What happened?" I asked her, seeing her tap the top of her knee now, maybe think again to herself.

"It's classified for me to tell you," She replied back smoothly to me, as if she's been saying that for years though she looked younger than me, in which I sighed in defeat, "They are dealing with the matter already, but it's my property to get you to headquarters before Stark finds you."

"Why is that?" I asked her now since Stark was now the topic of conversation.

"Let's just say he's voiced plenty of times how he wanted to find you, or at least the hacker that he thinks is you," She explained to me rather cooly now, which and I think that she thought of Stark int he some way I did: without any real respect. It made me like her even more.

"So…am I part of S.H.I.E.L.D. property now?" I asked her since it was more of a curious thing for me to think that I wasn't going go anywhere without them right behind me. Not anymore at least.

"For the moment, yes." She replied back to me calmly as she tapped my file with her finger, "Since Captain America talked to you the other day about recruiting you and keeping you under our care, we figured we might as well do it now when We got word of you kidnapping."

"What about Hank and Hope Pym? Scott's daughter? What's going to happen to them since I'm involved with them and PYM technology?" I asked her since I felt as though I had to bring up the others that might have danger behind them because of me.

"We'll protect them and keep an eye on them in case something does happen with Stark. PYM and Stark haven't seen eye to eye in decades," She explained some more as she placed the file in her briefcase before she tapped the driver on the shoulder, "Make sure we stay within the speed limit but get us straight there."

"Yes, Agent," He replied as he kept driving through the streets and having me think yo myself for a moment or two now. Since it was the first time I felt a bit at peace from all that was happening to me, not being in that total amount of darkness anymore, I was feeling more sluggish than ever, not to mention beyond hungry and sleep deprived. The woman could read it on my face, without me saying a single word or two about it now.

"We're taking you to a hotel so you can rest and have something to eat, okay?" She asked me kindly now, having me nod my head at her now without saying a word as she rested her hand on my shoulder there between us in the small black car.

"You're under our care now."


	16. Chapter 16

The room was too nice for me to use all by myself, at least it felt like it to me as they were escorting me over to the hotel room, the biggest suite there at the place and they paid for it in some way I didn't know. But once hey gave me the keys and I walked into the suite there, looking around with nothing really for me to hold onto like an anchor, I was thinking of how this all came to be. How did it come to this, me being in a foreign place with no real way to get home or contact Hank and the others to let them know where I was and if I was alright.

"We're going to keep a surveillance out here so no one can get in or out without us knowing," The same woman explained to me as I was walking around a bit in the living room to check out my new place: the deep gray couch that as tucked against the wall and the clear glass coffee table and plasma TV on the other side of the room, a set of double doors going out to the balcony that was overlooking the landscape there that was plastered out for me to see, a couple of pieces of fruit in the bowl there on the coffee table, a small desk against the wall facing the window with a chair and a few pens.

This was a penthouse suite, and I felt so out of place.

"Let us know if you need anything,' The girl explained to me now as another soldier walked up to her and whispered in her ear, leaving me to walk away from the group of them and over to the high window, seeing the small cars drive by like nothing remotely dangerous was going on in the world. I was jealous that they had a life that was not here: running from people and organizations. Now more than ever I wanted to be normal, not be being seen under a microscope and looked at as something extraordinary. I never wanted that, now it was really the last thing on my mind now as the girl asked over to me, peeved about something.

"We have to leave with another situation that happened at our headquarters. You're safe here, and you have three of our agents outside your door to watch and protect you," She explained to me, having me nod at her once before I found my own voice to thank her at least. This seemed like a lot of time and effort to put through just for me, and yet she made it seem like nothing and other day in the office.

"Thanks, for helping me," I thanked her, seeing her give me a recurring smile for a few seconds. She seemed nice enough, though she looked like she needed to get somewhere else since the urgency was there on her face.

"It's the least we can do," She replied, then looking back at the agents and nodding at them before she moved to go out of the room and leave me there. I sighed, looking back at the window once more and I was starting to think of too many questions that were now making me feel worse and worse. I wondered where Scott was. If Hope, Hank and Cassie were okay. If Iron Man was now going to find his way over to me even though I was with SHIELD and under their protection.

In general, what was going to happen to me now.

* * *

There was a knock at the door later that night, having me get up from the bed and walk over to the front door of my suite. I wondered why I was going to get a visitor late that night in the hotel, not to mention I would doubt that any of the soldiers would let anyone come to see me since I was on lock down.

Once I opened the door, I saw the three soldiers there looking right at me now with the hallway light on and giving them a sense of mystery since I couldn't see their direct faces.

"What's going on?" I asked them with tiredness heard in my voice, one of the soldiers moving out of the way and I finally saw who was standing there behind them and he looked a bit more menacing there within the shadows. I stayed frozen there, not saying a word or two with the new person there with his hands behind his back and the stay he stood there with something strong within his steps there.

"I take it that you're feeling safe and sound here in your room that I paid for?" The voice alone made me think that he was higher up the ladder with SHIELD. He walked over a few more steps there, having em finally see who it was there in the light. He was bald, an eye patch over one eye, and was dressed in black from head to toe. I could see it how he was looking at me with his one eye and with some of the scars there along his dark skin, he was something with plenty of history behind it. I was feeling intimated by him.

"Yeah…" I trailed off, not thinking of anything else to saw to him now as He smirked at me and placed his hands in front of him now in a folded manner.

"I'm Fury, in charge of this whole stain that you're in," He explained to me, and the name itself w as perfect for his exterior, "I am n need of your hacking assistance."

"You need me to hack?" I asked him, thinking of how bizarre it was for him to ask me to do such a thing since it was hacking that got me in this position. He nodded his head.

"My team is now MIA. and I need you to find them."

* * *

"Where were they seen last?" I asked Fury as he placed a laptop in front of me at the desk there in the hotel room, having me see the soldiers go back outside the room to guard the room outside in the hallway as I was then getting my hacking started there with Fury watching me.

"They were at the Leipzig Airport in Germany," He explained as I was getting a map up of the airport and then logging into the website to get through to have some sort of control over the site from an employee state of mind. This happened within seconds, going in through the staff mainframe and then hacking into the cameras that were set around the airport.

"Are you sure I won't be found here on this laptop?" I asked hm now in reassurance as I looked back at him over my shoulder,"I don't want to have another incident with Tony Stark on my hands here with him trying to find me and kill me,"

"This laptop is not traceable by anyone," he answered me as I saw him give me another confident stare with his one eye,"I made sure that if anyone tried to break into this laptop, they would be persecuted within hours."

"Well that's reassuring I guess," I said back to him now as I was back at the basic laptop there in front of me, reminding me of some of the basic laptops that I used and hacked on in high school. it was almost nostalgia for me to go through, but only for a second.

"What time were they there last?" I asked him now as I was shifting a bit in my chair.

"Late Morning and noon, over near the landing strips here," He said to me as we found some of the clips that were near the back of the airport, having me click on that camera there and having it come up tot he full screen. I clicked a few more buttons there on the keyboard, then being bale to have some kind of control over the time last of the camera there. It was a slighted angle of the show strip there, already having me see that there were firetrucks and cop cars there with siren blazing and people there trying to fix the damage that was inflicted there. It was too much damage for something typical, in which it made me wonder how bad of a fight it was, and who was fighting really since once again no one was telling me what was happening. All I knew was that Scott was involved, and that scared me to no end.

"Let's reverse and back it up a few hours," I mostly said it to myself now as I clicked the button there that would have the time go backward and the things were moving in reverse. it was going rather fast, but I kept my eyes there on the screen within every second.

"There," Fury said, pointing to the screen there and I stopped the rewind, seeing it passed there with the group of people there, mostly in costume now fighting each other and I looked in shock. I recognized one or two of them for the TV, how they were seen on the news and how they were saving the world, but now they were fighting each other like nothing else really mattered. They were scattered around the strip, hitting each other and fighting eh other in that freeze frame that we had there on the screen. I was trying to see who I knew there, and I could instantly see where Scott was.

It made me panic.

He was on his back, part of his helmet open and he was looking up at the sky with his face almost looking like he was in pain. It made me heart hurt a bit now to see something like that happen to Scott, what he was doing this whole time now since I was being hidden away from the world. Where was he now? Was he with the others, wherever they were?

"Let's fast forward a small bit," I murmured, hitting the button and seeing things sped up a small bit now in a faster motion. Now I was seeing them getting up and the others men that they were fighting against locking home up in what looked like cop cars or even black vans. I stopped the tape, seeing the black vans there and then looking at Fury now and seeing something click in the back of his head.

"SHIELD took them," he said now in a mutter as he tuner reached in his cell phone pocket and starting typing in a few things there with his thumb, in which now I looked at him in shock.

"I thought you were in charge of them?" I asked in which he kept going with his typing.

"Not technically, but I still have eyes and ears on those guys. Either way, this is not good," He said to me now as he placed his ear to the phone and started talking away to someone named Agent Hill and I looked back at the vans now. It made me wonder now if I was able to find a way as to where they were going and where they took the others that Scott was with. I zoomed in a bit on the camera feed, though it didn't give me enough way for me to find them more. But it made me now looked back at Fury now with a new plan in my head.

"Do these vans have cameras int home, surveillance?" I asked him, seeing him eye me with his one eye like I was talking crazy nonsense to him and he raised his eyebrow at me.

"Of course," he replied, almost trailing off now as I looked back at the screen as I started tapping away now and I heard him click the phone off and placed back in his pocket, "What are you thinking of doing?"

"If there is a serial number there on the van that I can find and run through on the scanners that cops use on stolen vehicles, then I can access to the cars…."I paused, seeing the tool that I needed and I zoomed in on the car door of the van and I tapped in the few numbers that I could barely see there since the photo was almost too blurry to see, "Then I can get into the cameras itself."

"Impressive," He said in surprise to me now as I was getting the scanning of the camera on my screen, "How did you learn how to do that?"

"On a dare when I was 13," I replied to him calmly, thinking about it for a moment or two before I went on, "I think most of the things I discovered I knew how to do were based on dares: scanning cars, hacking into Stark industries." It almost sounded like a casual joke, but it was a reality for me since I was less of a daredevil in the world of technology. I finally got a reading on the van that was there on the screen and I tapped in a few more key to see if I could get into the van's camera itself.

"If I do this right,t then these cameras can lead us straight to them," I said to him now with a bit of confidence there in my tone, seeing him nod in agreement now as I then passed and looked up at him, "But if I'm going to do this, I have one condition." I could see that he was reading me to see if I was telling the truth or just pulling his leg. I was looking at him dead on and not saying a word or two, to have it sink with him now as he responded back to me.

"What's your condition?"

"I go with you."

* * *

 **Raft Prison**

 **Ryker's Island, New York**

As soon as I stepped off the helicopter, I knew I was way too in over my head now as I was following the slew of agents that were there with Fury leading the way now over to the doors that would lead us in. Already I was feeling the affects of this place: the coldness and the isolation of this prison that was literally a floating fortress in the middle of nowhere. I wondered why this would be here and who would be too powerful to be placed there for the sake of protecting others? Why Scott and that whole group? They didn't fit the bill to me, this place was for those who were far too lost for their won good.

The doors opened in front of us as agents zoomed in, having me stay with Fury and Agent Hill like some obedient puppy as we descended down the stairs and I could hear the chatter of the agents talking to either other and to the people that were working there. I looked over at Fury now as he was walking with the swagger in his step.

"Do these people know we're here?" I asked him timidly now as we were approaching an already opened vault door that was leading into a great room now that see a circular room with a wide open space there in the middle. Fury looked over at me now, having already know the answer to that question.

No.

We entered the room now, 5 agents were already walking over and checking the area in which I knew what kind of room that we were in now. This was a prison after all, and there was holding cells in there, with people inside. It made me freeze up for a moment, thinking that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time now as Fury walked over to the one person that was standing there in the middle with his back to us. He wasn't an agent, I could tell from the non-black clothing that he was wearing, but I knew who it was from just the silhouette: Captain America.

Why was he there?

"It seemed like you beat us to the punch," Fury said to him now as Captain America turned around and looked at him with a small smile on his face. He looked out of place, not the same superhero that I talked to days before when he looked clean and simple enough to be the face of America. No, he looked worn down and almost running on empty now, probably from the defeat. He nodded his head at Fury as I was looking at the holding cells that had people in them, all of them were looking out at us there, mostly me since I was in the middle of the room and was standing out like a sore thumb compared to the black dressed agents from SHIELD.

"You know me, Fury. I don't like standing around for far too long," he said back to Fury in a joking manner as I was looking at each person there. One was a woman in a straight jacket, beautiful but haunting in the face, another older man was watching me with an amused look on his face. The third I recognized Sam Wilson whom I met earlier as well as I had Captain America talk once again now to Fury.

"You brought her along?" He was talking about me now as I looked to the last cell that had someone's back to me, sitting against the glass wall that was towards me. But I knew that black hair from anywhere and how it was sticking out a bit from the top of his head. I knew how his shoulders were slanted a bit against the glass wall, and it made me heart stop for a seance now as Fury spoke for me.

"She found you for me, she's a bit good at computers," He commented as I started walking over to the cell now, the others in their cells were watching me like a hawk now as I walked over to the one cell that had the person I was looking for and searching for. I hoped it was him, I really hoped it was and not an imposter that looks and felt like him with my eyes.

"I didn't think you were interested in her," Captain America said to Fury.

"Well, she does have a friendship with Mr. Lang here," The man perked up from the sentence that was ringing in the room now as he finally turned around and looked right at me with big eyeshade a look of shock there on his face. It was him after all, and he sighed in relief and grasped the glass wall there within his fingers as I approached him with a wide smile on his face.

"Scott."


	17. Chapter 17

"Emma? What are you doing here?" Scott asked me behind the glass that he was in with his own cell. It was scaring me, seeing him in a cell there wearing prison clothes that were really bringing him down from what he used to wear. It made me worry now that whatever he did landed him here was a bit dangerous and almost deadly, but I did remember seeing hm fight with the others there at the airport in Germany.

"They brought me here to get you guys, I kind of found you online," I admitted to him as he was still standing in front of me, his hand was still against the wall there pressing into it a bit too hard for me to like, almost like he was about to push through it to grab me. I placed my hand there too, thinking that would calm him somehow.

"You helped them?" He asked me, a bit surprised there as he looked at me in shock and I heard footsteps behind me, having me look behind me to see Captain America and Fury walked over to where I was with Scott.

"We're going to get them out soon enough, but we have to act fast," Fury explained to me now as I looked at him in question.

"Why is that?"

"The people who run this prison, they didn't know we were coming and they're gong to be in here in about," Fury pauses to look at his watch on his wrist before he looked back at me, "30 seconds. I would step away from the glass if I were you."

I moved away from the glass now and made my way back to Captain America as some of the agents were finally getting over to the cells and were opening them with ease with their own sense of technology.

"After we get them out, where can we go?" Captain America asked Fury as the first few cells were being opened now and the prisoners were being opened. The older man looked around, having a bit of a grim look there on his face as Sam walked over to Captain America instantly like he was needed to be next to him to have some kind of sense of peace.

"I think you still have to take care of your friend there since he's still has a target on his back," Fury explained to him as the woman in the straight jacket was ushered out of the room and one of the agents was undoing the jacket on her. Of course, the last one that they would open would be Scott's cell, in which he bolted out like a bat out of hell and fast walked right over to me.

Before I could say anything to him, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close, not letting me breathe in and just wrap my own arms around him too in return. It felt good to be hugging him, almost like a soothing sensation going through me. It was real good, considering that he was alive and okay, that we both were together again in the same room, and I was almost to the point of admitting to myself that I like Scott as more than a friend. It was almost like it was a hard pill to swallow since I had no idea how he was feeling about me in return.

Yet again, his hold on me was a bit more sincere than any other hug that we would share together. One arm was wrapped around me and holding me close to him, the other hand was cradling my head close like he was afraid that I was going to leave him there and almost break his heart. It was almost a calling dentition once again for me, and one I had a good amount of his body memorized against my own, he finally pulled away from me and looked at me up and down to make sure I was looking okay.

"What the hell?" He asked touching my chin there with his fingers and I felt the bruise forming there. I forgot about it since my mind was mostly on finding Scott and making sure that he was fine. But now I was remembering the bruise there along my skin and near my bone, when he touched it I squinted a bit now as he pulled away instantly from feeling my reaction.

"You're okay?" He asked me, searching me with his eyes and I smiled at him, finally. getting me back to my regular self again as the rest of the prisoners there in the cell block were out and safe.

"I'm fine, I'm just glad you're okay," I replied back to him in my regular tone now as he grinned back at me, the worn look on his face from his previous battle that he was in. I wanted to tell him something, something I thought would be a great idea or a bad idea, I didn't know which one really to go with, but I was interrupted by Fury as he spoke up, finally.

"Let's get out of here, before our cover is officially blown."

* * *

"So….they're all superhero?" I asked Scott in a low tone under my breath as we were sitting in the SHIELD carrier that was taking us away from the prison. We were all the hanger part of the plane, Scott and I side by side and the others were sitting more in the front. Captain America and Fury were talking to each other, Sam was sitting with the older man who had the name of Clint Barton and the woman named Wanda. They were all looking tired and content from being in the carrier as Scott needed his head at me.

"Yeah, they're all superheroes," He muttered to me as we were leaning back in our chairs and having em feel the humming of the plane while we were flying in the sky, "Why Captain America wanted me to help him out, I have no idea."

"Maybe because you're a superhero too?" I asked him in a lighter manner, shrugging my shoulders then and seeing him look at me unconvincingly.

"Why would I be a superhero compared to these guys?" Scott asked me in an unmasked tone.

"We already had this talk, Mr. Lang, Don't make me remind you," I replied to Scott as he then looked at the others that were on the plane there. I looked too, seeing the others talking to one another and having me looking at them up and down. From where I was, they didn't look too much like they were superheroes at all. They looked smaller, almost vulnerable and not strong at all.

"I'm just glad that you're okay," Scott said to me as I looked back over at him while we were sitting side by side together, "I was worried about you. Hank and I, along with the guys, we were going to come and get you before Clint there recruited me to help with the Captain. I was going to say no, but Clint reassured me that they would get you,"

"He said that?" I asked him, watching him pause for a moment now as he then finally answered me back.

"Yeah, I don't know how he knew, but yeah," He answered back in a surprised manner, a small smile there on his face, "But like I said, I'm glad you're okay. Where did they take you…whoever they were?"

"I don't know," I said back in a lower tone, thinking back to where I was and if they had any kind of clue to have me realize where I was. But there was nothing, only the one room that was gray and dark and cold, "But there was a man, who knew about Stark and who knew that I was being hunted by him. He wanted me to work for him."

"Work for him? How?" Scott shifted in his chair a bit now to face me.

"I don't know, maybe with HYDRA. I think he was working with them," I answered, feeling a chill going down my body from the thought of it, "I think I was in there for a few days. The Agent said two, but it felt like it was longer." Scott didn't say anything, and I could see on his face that Scott didn't like what I was telling him. It was almost haunting him, and it made me panic now that he was feeling his about me and what happened to me. I instantly looked down t his hand that was resting on his knee, it almost looks like he was clutching it like a lifeline there, maybe holding something in from what was bottled inside of him.

I reached over, lacing our fingers together and already feeling his now hand tempting a bit when we touched. But once we laced our fingers as one, palm to palm, I could tell the tension that was still there was now melting away slowly and surely now, having it feel more relaxed and careful now. He was looking at our joined hands, as I was doing the same now since I felt like us talking about what happened to me.

"Scott," I said to him, thinking back to the moment when we were talking outside of the lawn and he was freaking out with me being with Sam and Captain America. I didn't want him to go through the same thing again, and one we locked eyes once again I smiled at him softly, "I promise you, I'm okay."

He nodded his head slowly, letting it drink in and he squeezed my hand back and I rested my head back against the chair there and breathed out slowly, "How's Hank and the others?"

"They're fine, I told them to stay back in San Francisco. I think that Fury guy told them to stay put," Scott explained to me as I looked over at Fury now. He was typing away at some of the monitors that were on the side of the plane there.

"What about Cassie?" I asked him, looking back to see if Cassie was going to be okay, "What happened to her."

"She's under SHIELD's protection, apparently, all of our families are if we were going to do this with Captain America," He explained to me, "Never took Fury as the 'taking care of' type."

"Me neither," I voiced back to him, "I don't think there's one single act of cuddling within him," he grinned at me from the joke that I used there between us as I heard a couple of beeping there in the plane, over near one of the monitors that Fury was at. It sounded off like something went really wrong.

'What is it?" Clint asked Fury as he tapped a few things there on the monitor, a few more beeps were heard here and there. Fury looked at the screen for a long second or two before he looked back at the group of us there.

"I think we need to make a detour before we head back," He said to the group, having me raise an eyebrow to him now since he made it sound like we were in deep trouble.

"What kind of a detour?" Sam asked him finally, having em feel Scott's hand in my own squeeze a bit tighter now.

Fury said nothing but pressed one button on the monitor.

* * *

 **Wakanda**

All I could see everywhere was green.

Plenty of green to cover the whole land there as we landed the plane in the country of Wakanda. Once we reached Africa, Fury told us that we had an ally there that would be able to keep us safe for the time being until Fury could make sure that we were going to head back safe and sound. Since the recent events in Germany, SHIELD was a little too touchy to get itself back on its feet, and Fury was a bit worried about all of our wellbeing since we just escaped a high-tech prison that SHIELD owns and operates.

Once we landed and got our own bearings together, Captain America rushed away without a second glance at the rest of us to another part of the facility, which was larger than I imagined and beautiful to look at within the surrounding forest and jungles. One of the ambassadors that worked there reassured us that the King of Wakanda was thankful we made it safe and that he would come to talk to us soon enough that night for dinner.

My own living quarters, once again, were too big for me to wrap my head around and to drink in on my own. I was placed in the guest housing region of the palace. I had a wide open window that was showing me the entire region of the jungles that were reaching out into the East.

The room itself was extravagant, plenty of trinkets and paintings that were hung on the walls there as I paced the room a bit longer, thinking over and over how I was both happy to be in a safe place, and nervous that I was nowhere near my own home. It made me miss my mother, wondering who she was doing and if she was just freaking out about my whereabouts and if I was still alive. She still didn't even know about my whole life there with the superheroes and the kind of world that they lived in. Was that my world now? Should I be ready for something like that?

"Hey," I heard a knock at the door and I looked over my shoulder to see Scott walking into my room, looking around the place with his hands in his jeans pocket and the same look on his face, "I like your place better than mine."

"What's wrong with your room?" I asked him as he joined me side by side there in front of the window.

"Well for one, you have a great room of the jungle out here. All I have is my own scenic view of the jungle," he said in almost a painful way like he was really mad about what he had at his own place. I giggled at him, seeing him smile at me then and scoot a bit closer to me now as we both looked back at the jungle once more, having me scan the area there. There was a familiar sense of silence there between us, nothing that was needed to be said after all that we went through and endured within the last 24 hours.

"Never thought I would be in a place with this much green," I commented to him with my eyes still moving from one part of the jungle to another with ease, seeing how there was so much life outside the glass that was separating me from the jungle.

"Me neither, and I'm used to either plenty of buildings or iron bars," Scott commented to me, having em slowly look over at him as he smirked at me and leaned back a bit on his feet. He looked so light and realized there with the lighting of the room and the sun coming in, having me seeing the lightness there in his dark hair and within his eyes. It made me almost lose my own train of thought since we were in the room together.

"I'm trying to picture you in jail," I voiced to him, seeing him watch me now with intrigued since he was waiting for what else I had to say about it and I smiled at him, "Daly, it's hard for me to picture it."

"Yeah, I never thought it would happen to me and I would come out of it with such a handsome face," he joked with me, rolled his shoulders at bit now, "And who knew that doing something like that would land me where I am,"

"As in, working for someone like Hank and now the Avengers?" I asked him, seeing him pause and think about something in his head. I wondered what it was and why he was looking at me like that, almost like he was enraptured with me in a way that both concerned me and enraptured me. Maybe I said the wrong thing since he waited for far too long for my liking to say anything.

"Well," He said finally, "I was thinking of being here, with you,"

It was like he dropped the floor from underneath me, having me look at him now with wide eyes and almost my own heart about to stop there. He really just said that almost like it was any other conversation that we have had in the past. But this time, it felt very real to me, and it made me go in a shock for a bit that he was feeling the same way that I was feeling for him. We were in a foreign country in Africa, breaking him out of prison and me running away and escaping the clutches of both Tony Stark and HYDRA, and here he was telling me these things about what he was feeling.

That's when he leaned in and kissed me.


	18. Chapter 18

Was it the because of the fact that we were in Africa in the beautiful jungle? Or was it because it came out of the blue.

Either way: It threw me off guard.

HIs lips right there on top of mine like they were planted there like they were meant to be there from the moment we both were born. It sounded so cheesy, the thought of destiny in one kiss, and yet it felt like it as we stood there with our lips on one another and the sun shining through the scenic grass amongst the jungle there. I wanted to do something else there, anything else that would have me show that I did want this to happen, almost for awhile now, but I was frozen there because my body was deciding to not cooperate with what my mind was thinking.

Which was running almost at 60 miles per hour?

He finally pulled away from me, still staying a bit close enough for me to see him watch me for my reaction and I looked right at him with wide eyes and a loss of my breath there and almost the feeling on my face because of how panicked I was feeling. This was almost both the very same ya I thought we would kiss for the first time, and yet again not really. But it happened, and it was a reality not set in stone.

We kissed.

"Ummm.." He trailed off, seeing the look on my face and how I was not saying or moving there within my spot, which lost make me think that I had to do something to show him that I was really thinking about it. Even though it happened within few seconds, and now he was thinking that he reacted crazily now and he made a terrible choice in kissing me.

"You just kissed me," I stated to him in a hushed manner, trying not to make it sound like a panic tone but more casual than anything. Was this a casual thing? It didn't feel like it, at least to me, but I had to get to the bottom of this for the sake of the both of us, "Why did you do that?"

"I think considering that I like you as more than a friend has something to do with it," He replied back to me cautiously now as he scanned my eyes now and I cocked my head at him since it sounded surreal for something like that to come out of his mouth.

"You do?" I asked him, my voice almost sounding high pitch now since it was still getting to me and under my skin that he did like me after all, as more than a friend, as someone he would want to kiss from time to time.

"I thought it was kind of obvious," He said then in a lower tone, almost like I was not following what he was saying to me and he was feeling rather stupid about it. I didn't want him to think like that, I could see it on his face and reading it there as he was standing in front of me. Eve in this time of my life, not being at home and almost on the run from plenty of people, why would I be hesitant now about the whole thing that I was feeling with Scott?

I kissed him back.

It felt a bit more pressured there with his lips, still a bit on the softer side there and I felt him stiffen up for a split second before he relaxed into the kiss, which felt more intense and careful than the first one. We were still testing the fact that we were kissing and getting to know the thought of kissing. Mainly, each other.

It wasn't a bad thought to be fair.

Of course, kissing Scott gave me the best free falling feeling in my stomach since he was a great kisser in my opinion. I never kissed that many boys to compare to Scott, fewer than the number of fingers on one hand if I was going, to be honest with myself, but this kiss already blew the others right out of the water. This felt very careful and yet tender at the same time when we kept that kiss there together.

I finally was the one to pull away now and watch him look at me, he was the now who had wide eyes and looked like a shock when down his spine. I feel nervous then, not knowing what else to do in that case. It felt like we both were young teenagers who were going through this for the very firs time in our lives.

"So…I guess we're both on the same page here," I said, feeling awkward about the way I felt about it. I was never really great with words and with how I would feel with another person. He slowly broke into a grin and I did the same, the awkwardness was floating away softly like a feather in the breeze.

"I think so too," Scott replied back to me softly and I felt like I was able to fly above the clouds since we were both on a mutual understanding of how the other was feeling. There was just the next step was having em wonder what was going to happen to us next.

"So what now?" I asked him almost timidly, "What are we?" He thought about it for a moment or two, reaching down with the both of his hands and he held our hands together between us, having me look down and see your joined hands and having me feel a bit better at ease.

"We take it slow," He reminded me, having me look up at him finally and seeing him attach me intently now, "I think we take this slow and easy. Given the situation that we're in and the fact that we're both pretty much fugitives, taking it slow is the best option." I smiled when he said that, then thinking of another factor that came into my head and I had to ask him.

"What about Cassie?" I asked, seeing him give me a confused look.

"What about her?" He asked back, having em shift a bit and squeeze our hands together in reassurance.

"Would she be okay with us dating? I mean, does she want you to date?" I asked him nervously now since I would be dating him and then taking on the fact that Cassie would be around. I didn't know if she would like me as someone dating her father or not and it would scare me to think that I would make her sad.

"She thinks you're great, first of all. Secondly," He paused grinning at me from ear to ear, "I don't think a little girl would really have any kind of negative feelings of her dad being happy since she's far too happy to feel anything else. Am I right?"

"She is overly friendly," I agreed with him, hearing him chuckle and I giggled too.

"See?" He asked, "I think she's okay with it. She's already in love with you anyhow." I was about to say something else about this whole thing unfolding between us, the door to the room. We both looked over there and we saw one the guards there at the facility walk in, being accompanied by a slender bald woman in an elegant yet modern business dress that was dark green. She was beautiful and exotic, almost intimidating for me to look at no as she looked at the both of us. I felt frozen there next to Scott, not letting go of his hands and not wanting to move an inch away from him since I felt more protected with him there than anything now.

"The King would like to have a word with you, and the rest of your friends," She explained in her thick accent to the both of us, having Scott and I look at each other and then back at her. I really felt like I had no choice in the matter. I had to come back from the cloud I was riding on with Scott and our new relationship and go back into the realm of reality that was our lives being in danger.

* * *

"Where's the Captain?" Sam asked as we were all sitting around a round white table in what appeared to be one of the major business rooms, all looking at each other in those chairs and feeling once again out of place. Everything looked beyond pristine and right in the perfect place, and we all looked too dirty and worn down from what the world did to them. I was sitting a bit close to Scott, the young woman on my other side and Sam across from the both of us. Clint was at one end of the table, trying to shift in his chair to find a comfortable spot and have almost an uncomfortable look on his own face.

"He's talking to Bucky," sam replied back to Clint, almost a weird look on his face from mentioning the name Bucky to all of us, Clint then slowly moved his eyes over to us, namely me now as he was reading me with his eyes.

"So you're Emma?" He asked me, almost sounding nonchalant about it as I felt Scott look over at me with hesitance there and I took in a shaky breath.

"Yes," I replied calmly now, seeing him tilt his head at me in wonder.

"You're the one Tic-Tac talks about all the time, huh?" He asked me, almost making it sound like he was teasing Scott with both the nickname, a small smile on his face there as I saw Scott roll his eyes in grimace from the gesture.

"Not to mention, the hacker that Fury wanted to recruit," Sam added onto the conversation, "Never thought you would be here with us."

"Given the fact that she found us before SHIELD could stop her, I think she deserves to be with us," Scott said cooly, his hand was underneath the table and I grabbed it to both tell him to calm down a bit and for him to not lose his head with the. The others at the table were now looking over at me, no longer with the teasing and intrigue like before, but with a bit of shock behind their eyes. I gulped.

"You found us at the prison?" The young lady asked, her European Accent was thick and almost haunting to hear now as I looked over at her and saw her own unique sense of beauty about her face.

"Yeah," I replied back softly to her, seeing the small glimmer of light in her now as I said that to her, "Fury had me find you guys."

"Impressive," Clint said finally in an optimistic tone now as he kicked up one of his feet not the table there in front of him, "I didn't think Fury would be one to ask for help for something like this."

"Fury's known to be a lost of things, things we don't even know," Sam replied to Clint as he then looked over at me with his own raised eyebrow at me, "So, you're working for Fury now officially?"

"I'm still trying to figure that part out myself," I answered as the double doors to my left opened, all f us looking and Clint moving his feet off the table and sitting up as if it was caught doing some kind of crime. We all looked to see some of the guards coming in, accompanying Captain America himself, Fury right behind him, and the apparently King himself. He looked young, rather dashing in a cool dark blue sweater and black slackers and shoes. He might have looked like he was going to go for a stroll down the street, but the way he was walking and looking at each of us with some kind of wisdom there in his young eyes, it showed that he was a King there after all.

"Sorry for keeping you guys waiting for a bit too long, we had to tie up some loose ends," Fury explained to us as the guards were fanning out around the room as some kind of security field and Captain America walked over to sit next to Sam in the empty chair. I looked at him briefly. seeing him look a bit out of it or lost at the same time.

"I hope your stay here at my palace has been nothing but hospitable," The Kind said to each of us now with kindness in his deep and almost velvety voice there that was laced with his thick accent, "You are welcome to stay as long as you must."

"The King here is going to have us stay here for a day or so in case we need to have the situation back in Germany cool down. I'll be doing some damage control," Fury explained to us as he walked over to where I was with Scott and he had his arms crossed in front of him.

"What about Bucky?" Sam asked Fury, then looking over at Captain America to see what he was going to say about whoever this Bucky was. I didn't know who he was, but the way it was now brought to the table in front of everyone, and now it all seemed like the mood went down like a freight train. No one said anything, and no one wanted to say anything at all. It might have been a sore subject now as I just sat there in my chair.

"He's going to be taken care of here," Fury replied slowly, Captain America looking a bit lost about the whole thing with this person named Bucky and it made me think that they could have been friends, good friends really, "Right now our top priority is taking care of what happened to Germany and making it as minimal as possible."

"How are we going to do that?" Clint asked him unamused now as he shifted once again in his chair, then slowly looking over to one of the guards that were eyeing him in disgust and he sat up once again to look more professional.

"Leave that to me, you guys, on the other hand, better contact your loved ones and let them know what's going on and that you're safe and sound. You guys are all over the news back at home and the last thing was need if some more scare," Fury explained to them now as I could hear him from behind me.

"What about Stark?" Captain America asked, out of the blue, and it felt like another bomb was dropped there on the table and people were looking at Fury now with not a grave look when they mentioned Bucky earlier, but more of an angry look. Did Tony piss all of them off? Was he having more people hate him more than ever?

In short, what in the hell was going on?

"Stark's no longer in the picture, in my opinion," Fury replied to the group like he just ended an argument amongst people. it was set in stone, concrete and final. I wondered then if Fury was not the biggest fan of Stark then and there. It made me look over at Scott,s being the uneasy look on his own face and he must have been thinking the same thing as me.

Was Tony Stark now the enemy?


	19. Chapter 19

"Are you sure these lines are safe?" I asked him while he was holding out a phone for me to use. It was now my turn to call on my mother to make sure she was okay, and that she knew that I was more than fine where I was. Everyone else made calls to their own families and loved ones, Scott was the one before me. After he called Hope and Cassie, telling them to talk to the others so he wouldn't be on the phone for too long, The King wanted me to have a turn. it felt rather pathetic that I was only calling one person and the others had plenty of others to call and talk to.

"I promise you, our lines are secure and non-hackable," he replied to me as I was in his office, the mahogany desk that a near the open wide window and a leather chair with some of his trinkets along the top of the office and his library on the one side of the room with two more blue chairs and a few more trinkets of his kingdom that showed its beauty.

"Thank you, your highness," I said to him in hesitance there as I grabbed the cellphone from him gently and he smiled at me, once again showing the youthfulness of his face and the kindness there too. He was once again dressed as someone who was rich and lived in New York: style and comfort and swagger at the same time.

"Of course, I'll leave the room for your sake of privacy," He explained, finally smiling at me once more before he moved out of the room and closing the door behind him softly. I was left alone there within the King's office, his home personal office that he would have important meetings or do important signings of documents and laws. And here I was: not even close to royalty and standing there in the office like I belonged there.

I started dialing the phone, which looked like it was beyond the future technology of what the newest phones looked like, this one looked 20 years in the future as the numbers were being seen on the screen. Once I pressed the green button, I pressed the phone to my ear and I held it close, heading the ringing on the other side. It made em hate the waiting, hate waiting to hear my mother's voice and to hear that she was okay. It felt like years since I last talked to her and hear her voice that was soothing and calming in the middle of my hardest storms in life. It made me realize I missed her, much more than I ever had in my life.

"Hello?" It was her, having me sigh in relief now from hearing her very voice that I thought was dreaming of in my sleep.

"Mom?" I said, almost desperate now as she gasped on the other line.

"Emma? Oh, thank God! I haven't heard from you in so long, how are you? Are you alright?" She asked me desperately now as I started to pace the room from one place to another.

"I'm fine mom. Really, I'm okay I promise," I reassured her.

"How do I know you're okay? I haven't heard from you, and when I tried to reach you I get nothing! I was worried sick about you," She went on, almost sounding like she was about to cry about the whole thing now as I sighed and tried to think of another way to calm her down. I was still under orders not to give too much away, for her sake and protection. But then again I never wanted to lie to my mother, I've done that enough already.

She has to know. But now?

"Mom, please believe me when I tell you that I am okay. I'm safe, and I'm okay," I tried to reassure her once more, hearing nothing at first from her side and I thought I mad her mad again now from how I was both avoiding telling her where I was and trying to make it seem like there was nothing dangerous going on.

"Emma, I can tell you're lying in the sound of her voice," I cringed, not moving at all and thinking that I was going to be in a world or hurt there since she caught me, "However, I won't push it since I know you won't budge."

I sighed in relief.

"Will you a least tell me when you'll come home?" I had tot think about that one, how to tell her that I had no clue and if I could ever come home again. Everything was not as it should be, and as much as I was glad that I was alive, I had to remind myself again it was all hanging in the balance for me . Not just for me, though, it made me panic and think for a moment or two about my mother. I would hope to god, from all that I knew about the superheroes and the important people that were already after me, they would try to find a way to get me to go to them. I didn't think tony Stark would be that dark, but that one guy from HYDRA would: kidnap my mother as bait.

"I don't know, but I have an idea for you,"

* * *

"Security cameras?" Scott asked me as I was tapping away at the laptop that they were letting me borrow. I was sitting in one of the lounge rooms with some of the others, Fury included, as I was talking to Hank Via FaceTime and giving him my own kind of idea for my mother's protection and her safe mindset. Once I knew that both sides of our communication were safe from any hacking or tracking, I wanted to talk to Hank.

"Does your mother approve of this?" Hank asked me over the laptop, having me raise an eyebrow at his picture there on the screen.

"You're gonna lecture me?" I asked him back, hearing him chuckle a bit now as Scott pulled up a chair to sit next to me as Captain America and Fury were talking to each other under each other's breaths.

"How's Cassie?" Scott asked him now as I was getting the equipment online ready for shipment to Hank while he was talking to him.

"She's perfectly Fine, Scott. We have it under control here," He explained to Scott, "Trust me, you don't have to worry about us here. Stark's been in the papers, though."

"What are the papers saying about him?" Scott asked as I was making the final payment there with my purchase, "Last time I checked he was glad about his victory."

"Yeah well his company's not doing so hot. Apparently, since the whole incident in Germany, his company's been going a bit downhill, and the papers already have their own share of gossip around the whole thing." Hank explained as I saw both Fury and Captain America looking over at us and the laptop, apparently hearing what Hank just said to Scott and me.

"He's not focusing on you anymore, if that's what you're thinking Emma," Hank reassured me as I looked back at Hank on the screen.

"How do you know?" I asked him now.

"The last few conferences that he held, you were not even on topic. He was talking about his company and how he's losing his own focus on its progression. But I wouldn't rely on that too much. As good as I know Stark Industries, and Tony himself, he's hiding something else from the public," Hank answered, having me bit my lip and think to myself for a moment or two. What could he be hiding and not bringing out into the blue? Was else was there behind all of us? And most of all:

Was I involved?

"Please keep us informed Hank of anything that you do hear," Fury said to Hank as he walked over to stand behind both Scott and myself and Hank saw him from his spot on the computer.

"Will do, keep my two friends here out of harm's way. That would be nice on your end," Hank replied to Fury.

"Will do," Fury answered him back as I tapped a few more keys on the laptop and I hit the send button there on the screen.

"A delivery is going to be made and sent over to my mother's house: a bonus from PYM Technologies under your name. Make sure those cameras get set up in my mother's house and fast before anything else does happen, " I explained to Hank as he nodded in agreement.

"No problem there Emma. We'll take care of her and make sure that she's okay," Hank reassured me, Scott grasped my shoulder there, giving it a reassuring squeeze and having me look over at him to see a small but kind smile there. He could tell I was feeling a bit out of it because of me being away from my mother and out of the country, and I think he was feeling the same way as well as I was.

"Thank you, Hank," I thanked him, seeing him wave at us before he clicked off the screen and we were there alone with Hank now, having me lean back a bit there in the chair and feel Scott rub my back soothingly.

"Don't worry about your mom, she'll be okay," Scott reassured me, having me have a sense that he was seeing the uneasiness on my face. Leave it to Scott to try and bring me some kind of peace when I was feeling a bit out of place and out of my element.

"Thanks, Scott," I muttered, feeling him squeeze my shoulder one more time, "I'm still worried about her. She's only a nurse, she can't handle herself against people like HYDRA."

"But SHIELD can, she'll be watched by them for certain," Fury reminded me, having me finally get up from my chair and eye him since it felt like I had to ask him what was on my mind for awhile since this whole thing started happening to me within a year.

"Why are you doing all of this for me?" I asked him, the others were watching as well when I asked him this, having him watch me with his one eye carefully. I really wanted to know the truth about why I was involved in all of this, why he didn't just let me let me be dragged all the way out here. There had to be more of a reason behind what he already told me. I knew that I wanted to come out to at least help get the superheroes out from that floating jail cell, but other than that, Fury shouldn't have anything to do with me, even if I was a great hacker or not.

"You were on our radar for some time," He merely replied to me, as if it was another conversation. But now I was eyeing him in a suspicious way and moved away from my chair and away from Scott too and near him, almost squaring off with him and feeling a bit defensive about it.

"How long was I on your radar?" I asked him slowly, thinking that I was about to go and step on a land mine and this was all going to blow up in my face. All of the eyes of the people there in the room were on the both of us as fury thought about it for a moment or two. It made me more nevus as to what he was going to tell me if it was some kind of truth or maybe something else to cover up more things. Anywho, I wanted to know.

"For a few years, give our take," It made me freeze there, watching him with the unbelief that he knew about me more than I thought he did. It felt wrong, almost a bit morbid now as I was losing my own tone of voice to ask him why for so long, why in general. It was like all of the oxygen left the room, no one moved an inch and they were now looking at Fury in a bit of shock from what he said and what was unfolded.

"What?" Scott asked juts as shocked as I was now as he was standing near me, almost having em feel him press behind me now in defense as Furry looked at the both of us.

"She was on our radar for the past few years from the hacking that she's done and all of the feed that came up with SHIELD. As soon as some of her work came online, we confiscated it so no one else can find out about her and we've kept tabs in case something came up." I wanted to yell at him, for finding out that they were going to watch me like I was a bug under the lens and he was not going tot ell me about it at all. Was he waiting for me to mess up so he can grab me first like I was some kind of prize?

"So you can grab me like I'm some kind of item on your laundry list?" I hissed at him, Captain America and Sam squinted a bit from the venom that they heard in my voice. Fury shifted a small bit, still looking stone in the face like he knew that I was going to react like this, which was even more infuriating.

"So we could make sure that you were safe," He reminded me, having me scoff at him a bit and suddenly feel like I didn't want to be there anymore, or anywhere else near him or the rest of this group of superheroes. It felt too complicated to be in something like this, some kind of web of lies and secrets that were weaving all over the place and I had to be okay with it?

"Well I sure do feel safe being here on the other side of the world with one evil organization after me and a billionaire who can make weapons," I said in a sarcastic tone, moving away from him and the others now and I was walking out of the room and back to my own room. Just being back in that same room with those people who knew about the kind of life and way of life that SHEILD was all about made me question it even more.

I placed my hand on the door when I heard Captain America talk to Fury once more, "You really need to work on your people skills there, Fury."


End file.
